A day at the fair and everything that follows
by animeloverhomura
Summary: After entering soul society Kurosaki Karin joins squad 10. Finding her captain working too hard like always, she takes him out for a day at a nearby fair. Then, as new members start to join their squad they work together against all odds. A Hitsukarin fic.
1. Chapter 1

So I'm rewriting this first chapter. I had originally planned for this to just be one chapter but then i decided, hey, might as well write more. Anyways for anyone who's new this is going to be a Hitsugaya Toshiro x Karin Kurosaki fanfiction. If you don't like that couple then please just don't read it. I wanted to try romance but I don't really like any of the relationships in Detective Conan so I can't do that. Also, I will be having Ichihime in this but it won't play a big role so you shouldn't need to worry about it if it bothers you.

* * *

Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya. Prodigy among the Thirteen Court Guard Squads and as the captain of squad ten he is the youngest shinigami to ever attain the rank of captain. This is largely in part due to his extremely hard-working nature and dedication, causing him to constantly be annoyed when his Lieutenant refuses to do her paperwork.

Times, for example, like now.

A sigh escaped Toshiro's lips yet again as he returned to the paperwork Matsumoto had left him. He didn't understand why she had been so excited to see a fashion show in the world of the living but had given up protesting once Matsumoto started using the excuse of 'going to learn about the living world's culture for future infiltration missions.'

It goes without saying that Toshiro hadn't bought what she said for a second, especially with how much she had been whispering with the Shinigami women's association lately. At the very least though, she wouldn't bother him while she was gone. It would finally be peaceful. His peaceful work was soon interrupted when a blaring yell echoed around his office.

"Hiya, Toshiro!" Calmly, used to this sort of disruption, Toshiro set aside his paperwork so they wouldn't get damaged and looked up. Very few had the nerve to call him by his given name, especially to his face, unfortunately this person was one of them.

"What is it Kurosak-"

"Karin. I told you to call me Karin and I won't stop telling you until you always do." She reminded him as their usual interactions resumed. Kurosaki Karin had died and come to Soul Society thirty five years ago when she had just turned twenty. She had not married but was instead training to be a cop… at least until she saved a child from a car accident that killed her and sent Ichigo into a dangerous fit of rage which lasted until Karin's soul form was brought to him.

After reconnecting with her father's side of the family through the Shibas Karin joined the Shinigami academy and ended up joining squad ten. However due to the spiritual shock (1) of her death her body changed into that of a girl in her fourteens to early fifteens- coincidently the same age as Toshiro.

"Right… Karin. I do hope you realize I am never going to develope that as a habit nor am I going to call you that in front of my subordinates."

"Technically, and sense we're not counting Rangiku-fukutaicho, they're our subordinates." Karin's gleeful smirk of minor victory only worsened Toshiro's mood.

"That isn't important. Regardless, I'm in the middle of paperwork, what do you want now?" Responding with a contemplative hum Karin pretended to consider her options while Toshiro's patience began to wear out. Finally, Toshiro put down his pen and rubbed his temple in an attempt to shake away his exhaustion. He and Karin had an odd relationship for a third seat and her captain. Everyone else knew they liked each other, Karin and Toshiro individually knew they liked each other, but the two did not know if the other liked them back. And the main factor was the fact that due to being souls relationships changed much more slowly. (2)

A sudden fit of laughter echoed in the room and snapped Toshiro out of his thoughts. Karin flicked his forehead and made him focus all his attention on her.

"God, if you're showing this much of your emotion you must be exhausted. Here, maybe this will help." As she spoke Karin reached into her kimono and pulled out a pack of pocky. "I got this from one of the girls in the Shinigami women's association from the world of the living, want some?"

Toshiro watched as Karin brushed a lock of her long hair- unusually let down rather than up in a ponytail- and opened a pack of the treat.

"If I wanted sweets I'm sure I could find some. You already know I don't like them so I don't see why you would bother offering them to me."

"Never bother to try sweets and you'll just regret it at the end of your life." Karin lectured, "Come on, just having a little bit couldn't hurt."

Heaving another sigh Toshiro consented and took one of the biscuits into his mouth. A second later the weight of the stick changed and Toshiro looked up to see Karin eating the other end. Snapping his teeth closed the stick began to fall to the table until Karin caught it mid air.

Completely ignoring what had just happened Karin gave a mostly fake smile and asked, "And? What are you planning to do for the rest of today?"

"I have more paperwork to do." Toshiro slipped his emotionless mask back on to remove the blush dusting his pale cheeks while he pulled the stack of paper back to the middle of his desk.

"Bo~ring! I know, let's take the rest of the day off!"  
"I'm in the middle of work-"

"Come on, putting yourself under this much stress can't be healthy." Seeing his continued reluctance Karin sealed her argument with a slap on the table. "Fine, I'll help you with the paperwork then. You'll finish way faster than usual and once we're done you'll do what I want you to." Toshiro remained unresponsive as he considered the pro's and con's of her suggestion. On one hand he would get his paperwork done faster, on the other he didn't want to put himself in a position where he would be indebted to her.

Karin saw his inner conflict and smiled, refusing to give up. "Come on, you're a brave and powerful captain, what exactly do you think I could make you do?"

Despite hearing the bait in her voice Toshiro refused to back down from the question of his credibility and the challenge in her eyes. The dark grey her eyes were always clouded in carried with them a powerful spark of energy.

"Alright, but just for today." Before he had set down his pen again he had been pulled up by and excited Karin who was practically flying around the room. She grabbed a tight hold on his arm and burst out of the barrack door, dragging him behind her.

"Don't worry," Karin explained without turning her head to face him, "I'll still help you with your paperwork when we get back! For now you need to have fun!"

Two unseated squad members gave each other amused looks as their superiors burst out of the doors, entertained at the relationship the youngest high ranking officials shared.

* * *

"And? Do you have an actual plan for us or are you making this all up as you go along?" The skepticism in Toshiro's voice almost made Karin flinch- she had trouble dealing with him when he tried to shut off all his emotions.

Guess her only option was to snap him out of it.

"Ow, that stings, Shiro. I'd have hoped you'd have more trust in me than that. Of course I know exactly what I'm doing."

"And that is…"

"It's a secret~"

She knew her last sentence had snapped him out of his emotionless state to an annoyed one when the surrounding air rapidly decreased in temperature. Still wasn't great but annoyed and having emotions was the better option between the two.

"Answer now, third-seat Kurosaki."

"Karin." She practically growled the reminder out as if it would make any difference. "But if you really want to know I can tell you, I'm generous like that."

Another annoyed growl and drop in temperature brightened Karin's mood.

"If you ever looked up from your paperwork you'd know that Ichi-nii is working with the Gotei Thirteen and Shibas to put on a carnival modeled after the ones from the world of the living. Actually, I'm pretty sure the Kuchiki's might be helping too…" Karin trailed off as she began thinking through and planning everything she wanted them to do together.

"Ah, yes. I think I remember reading about that happening in a report a short while ago-"

He was cut off as Karin suddenly spun around, an expression resembling offence on her face. "Seriously?! You only know this is happening because you read about it in a report?!" Even Karin's raised eyebrow could not completely succeed in sending over how ludicrous the entire idea sounded to her. The couple continued to make their way to the center of the fair, passing through aisles of various stalls and food carts. The scent of flowers from a nearby flower stall filled the air and would have annoyed Toshiro if he wasn't paying all his attention to Karin.

"Well?" She asked again, waiting for confirmation or denial.

Toshiro blinked at her unreasonable display of anger before finally giving a reply. "I… I guess so? Why are you angry about this, there's nothing wrong with learning information through reports. I haven't had much time to do anything else anyways."

Karin sighed in a way that reminded Toshiro of himself as she brought her hand to cover her face. "You idiot. You're an absolute idiot."

Toshiro blushed slightly, then turned to anger at her offencive statement. "Why are you calling me an idiot?!"

"Because you're overworking yourself to the point where you're not bothering to go out and interact with people. There comes a point when paperwork becomes too much, you idiot! That's all people have been talking about lately, you need to interact with them more!"

"I was… busy" Toshiro's weak excuse was cut off when Karin reached out to grab his hand and pull him along.

"That's it! I'm am going to make you have some actual fun here whether you want to or not! Off we go!" They two raced through the stalls- ranging from light pastels to saturated colors- to an area of the festival that took place over a grass field.

"Okay, so you've brought us here. Now what do we do?" Karin considered his question for a moment before excitedly pointing in the direction of an icy blue stall.

"Oh, we need to try that!"

"Need to?"

"Yes!" Toshiro gave a resigned smile to Karin's yell and both 'children' jogged up to the stall just as the employe behind it finished what they were doing.

"What should we get?"

"How should I know? You're the one who brought us here." Karin looked over the posters behind the stall in consideration. It was a stand for temporary tattoos and while options were given the person running the stand could make anything you wanted.

"Come on, just think of something. It'll come off as soon as you shower."

A headache made Toshiro rub his temples but he looked at the posters in honest consideration. "I guess… dragon or a daffodil like the tenth division logo for me."

"What colors?" Karin asked as she held up the poster that displayed the options. Toshiro considered them for a moment before pointing to an icy blue similar to the stall and a light turquoise.

"Ooh, good ones."

"What about you? Thinking of getting a soccer ball?"

"That would be fun but… I think it would be awesome if we both got the tenth division symbol. We can get them on our cheeks and get things related to our zanpakuto's on our hands."

"So I don't choose I just get both the symbol and the dragon?"

"Precisely!"

A slight fond smile covered his expression for a moment before he shook it away and Karin decided she probably just imagined it. He nodded at her and the pair entered the stand for matching face paint and temporary tattoos (3).

After explaining what they wanted the two sat down on stools in from of the stall as two painters used kido to form the designs on their cheeks. Karin smiled and pushed some hair out of her face so the painter would have a better canvas to create the design. She stared down at her sleeveless kimono in thought, deciding where to add the division symbol.

"What should we do after this?" Karin asked tilting her head slightly so the hair trailing down her back swayed. "Just so we're clear I won't accept 'go back to the division for more paperwork' as an answer. We're going to have some actual fun today."

Toshiro blushed slightly at how precisely Karin read his thoughts then closed his eyes to give her question some thought. "What about a movie?"

"A movie?" Karin, repeated. "You're one of the last people I would ever think would suggest something like that! What's up?"

"You're brother brought it up once." Toshiro explained, "Once he mentioned it Orihime heard our conversation and started to go on and on about them. I've never seen one so I'm curious why it insisted such praise from her."

"Hold up, you've never been to a movie?" Karin tried hard to keep the disbelief out of her voice but, judging from the scowl he sent her, she hadn't succeeded.

"No. When would I have had time to go?"

"Oh, yeah. You've got a point." Karin thought for a second then smirked, "I'll have to show you then! I know I can find an awesome movie for us to see. I remember Orihime-nee telling me about a movie theater they were going to try and make here. It'll be fun, promise."

"Why would I trust a promise coming from you?"

"Because I'm awesome!"

"Right… fine then." Karin looked up in mild surprise at his easy refusal, it would normally take much more than that. "I've never tried anything like it so it could be a worthwhile experience. Who knows, it could be fun to try something together."

"Hitsugaya-taicho, would you by any chance be asking me out on a date?" Karin smiled as a handful of children passed by them, their laughter tinkling like bells. One of the balloons they were holding suddenly was lost and began to fly up- the cries of dismay that followed shortly after made Karin frown.

"Done," one of the painters declared. As soon as she gave that announcement and pulled away Toshiro was gone, having moved into the air to catch the escaping balloon.

He dropped back onto the ground to hand the balloon back, then smirked at he looked Karin in the eyes. "Maybe. In exchange, though, you need to help me with paperwork."

Karin laughed as she responded, "I already agreed to help you. I'm not gonna go run away now. Promise."

"What did I tell you about your promises…"

* * *

"Well that was fun! Great job mister air conditioner!"  
"A complete waste of Hyorinmaru's powers, Kurosaki."

"Karin." Her reminder for the thousandth time caused Toshiro to roll his eyes at her. "You do realize I'm going to keep saying that until you start calling me Karin every time, right Toshiro?"

"It's captain Hitsugaya."

"Uh huh." If anyone had been listening to their conversation they would have chuckled at the irony of the desired names. "I'll consider calling you that if you stop being such a stick in the mud and call me Karin. Now say it with me Ka~ri~n."

Toshiro glared at the mocking words she teased him, lowering the temperature of the bright clear day and filling the sky with dark clouds. He took a deep breath to calm himself and sighed, mentally resigning himself to his fate.

"Fine. What do you want to do now, Karin?" He stressed her name and made her aware he was only going to call her that for an hour or so. As they continued their walk through the fair, looking at various stands and games, Toshiro allowed the air to return to it's normal temperature.

"First off, if you're calling me Karin then I should get to call you Toshiro. It's only natural." Karin declared, then took great pleasure in the expression Toshiro made.

"How is that natural?! I don't remember you ever making that part of the equation!"

"Just accept your fate, I have full rights to call you 'Toshiro' now."

"I sincerely hope you realize that I am still your superior."

"I told you to not be such a stick in the mud. I promise, it's fine Toshiro. You've got to lighten up!"  
"Promises…."

"Whatever, with you calming down it's becoming boiling out here, think you can lower the temperature a bit more?" Karin asked while using her hand as a fan and wiping some sweat off her brow.

"I'm not an air conditioner."

"The people in the movie would disagree about that." At this point Toshiro decided this conversation wasn't worth the effort he was putting in and gave up. A small flare of his reiatsu changed the stifling heat to a comfortable one while the air directly next to Toshiro was just above freezing.

"And now you're going to make me…."

Karin smiled at his repeated complaints but broke out into a huge grin when she saw the perfect activity. "Look! How about we try that, it's really hot here anyways."

Toshiro followed Karin's gaze to a shaved ice stand and watched as she made frantic and excited gestures towards it. Deciding there were worse things she could have picked Toshiro allowed himself to be pulled in the direction of the stand.

"Did you even remember to stop and pick up enough money for this before dragging me along with you?" Toshiro asked skeptically, then glared as Karin's excited expression changed to one of someone who had just been caught in the act within seconds.

"I… I think so…"

"Reassuring." Karin glared at Toshiro's sarcastic comment and stomped on his foot with enough force to make him blink, startled.

While Toshiro was too startled and distracted to stop her she reappeared behind him and started pushing him in the direction on the stand.

The sudden push almost made Toshiro collide with a worker who was frantically running past them, a terrified look on their face. A quick glance around proved that every worker was running around in a similar fashion as they tripped over one another like children.

A minute of watching passed before Toshiro snapped and decided to intervene. He used shunpo and reappeared directly in front of a machine that was releasing smoke and looked to be about to explode. The workers in front of the machine were shocked by his sudden appearance and fell back onto their backs.

With a nod from Toshiro Karin moved each worker away then began using her body as a human (shinigami?) shield.

A spark glowed in the machine and the smoke increased before Toshiro calmly raised one hand in it's general direction froze the machine- along with all the energy about to cause the explosion. Even the smoke was turned into a pillar of ice.

"Y-you just… how, I don't," a worker stuttered out, in awe at what he had just seen. Toshiro scowled, for a moment reminded of his childhood in the rukongai where everyone around him thought he was a monster. (4)

Karin, seeing his discomfort, answered the question for the man. "I am Karin Kurosaki, third seat of the Tenth Division of Soul Society's Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Do you have a problem with us stepping in like this?"

"N-no, maam!"

Toshiro, having snapped out of his memories through Karin's words responded similarly. "And I am Hitsugaya Toshiro, the captain of the Tenth Division."

While they had been shocked at Karin's admission they were astounded by Toshiro's. Eye's widening, the men gaped for a second before suspicion clouded their expressions.

"But both of you are so young, you couldn't possibly be-"  
"Age is not a factor in Soul Society, only ability," Toshiro interjected, "We are competent enough. Or do you require another demonstration of that fact?" As he spoke Toshiro began to lower the temperature, his reiatsu overpowering the blinding sun.

"No! We believe you, sorry about that." The second man quickly spoke, sweat dripping down his forehead despite the increasingly colder temperature.

Both men had seen proof to the skill the white-haired boy had and backed out of the conversation as fast as they could.

"Regardless of that, what happened here?" Everyone present (minus Karin) breathed a sigh of relief when Toshiro changed the subject and began allowing the air to return to a livable temperature. The minor insult from earlier had caused Toshiro to respond angrily but just like that he was all business again.

Smiling, Karin watched at Toshiro's body language morphed into the one he used on new members of the tenth division who thought they could get away with anything due to having a captain younger than them. Very few could deny his position as captain when he became like that.

"W-we were trying to get the shaved ice machine to work, but it broke down and while trying to fix it we spilled what little snow we had. We got more desperate so we tried messing around with the inside of the machine and, well… you can see the result."

If Karin had not been so frustrated with the man for ruining her shaved ice trip (date) with Toshiro she might have felt pity for him. However, as he was continuing to press on her patience she was much less sympathetic… then she got an idea.

"Hey, if you really need snow then Toshiro could help you with that." Toshiro turned in surprise at hearing himself being volunteered like that but did not interrupt. "He has the strongest ice zanpakuto so it would probably be really easy for him. In exchange would you agree to giving us a cup? I'm not exactly sure how else you could get more snow."

The men flinched at her last sentence, aware she had practically boxed them into a corner with it and left them no escape options. Toshiro was completely aware of what she was doing but decided to let it continue for a while.

As Karin finished speaking it finally dawned on the men that the 'children' in front of them really were powerful. No that was wrong, they were by no means children, they were Shinigami and one of them was a captain.

"If you give us some snow to work with then we would be more than happy to give you some. We mostly want to continue selling, giving you a single cup each while you supply us with materials is more than fine."

Or rather, they would be willing to give the two anything to get them to leave. Captain's and high seated officers attract a lot of attention, if someone found out and reported back to their boss they would be dead.

It also didn't help that the two of them were absolutely terrifying.

"Okay, then it's a deal." Karin declared with a smirk while Toshiro rolled his eyes and stepped forward to the box for ice.

"Um… what should we do?" The second man asked with a hint of fear in his voice as he felt Toshiro's reiatsu rise. Even the most untrained and powerless souls knew that a crazy amount of energy was being gathered by Toshiro.

"Just stay back." Toshiro ordered while trying not to sigh. He stepped closer until he was directly on top of the ice box and held out a hand. "I can handle this."

A deep breath in and his reiatsu skyrocketed. The pedestrians walking nearby noticed the air had suddenly gotten cooler but right on top of the box it was far below freezing. A thick, dark cloud formed over the box and began to release small flecks of pure white ice which fell down and filled the box completely.

The snow increased at an unnatural speed and continued to appear faster. The box soon had a small mountain of snow over it as it finally began to overflow.

(5) Seeing his work and deciding it was complete Toshiro let down his arm, smirking for a brief moment at his handiwork.

"Amazing…" One man whispered and made Karin smile. The awestruck man's whispered delight was quiet enough for only Karin to hear it but it still made her happy.

Another man snapped the first out of his shock and reminded him of what they were expected to do. He fidgeted slightly before looking up at Toshiro and Karin for their orders while his friend went to get more cups.

"Alright, what flavor can I get for you two?"

Karin quickly surveyed the flavors and instantly realized which one Toshiro would want. He probably wouldn't want toppings but she did.

"He'll have a watermelon flavor with no toppings and I'll have strawberry with strawberry syrup and rainbow jelly. (6)"

The man gave a quick nod and began to assemble their order, giving Toshiro and Karin some time alone. Karin leaned back and stretched her arms while Toshiro sat on a nearby stool with perfect posture.

"Thank's for joining me Toshiro."

He blinked in surprise at her words. "You didn't really give me much choice in the matter but… it was slightly enjoyable. I'm happy we went."

"Are you incapable of just admitting you had fun?" Karin teased and smirked when Toshiro scowled at her. "We should do something like this again sometime."

Toshiro nodded in agreement as the man brought their treats out and he stood up to get them. "Yes, that would be nice."

The two Shinigami took their shaved ice then looked up at the now-dark sky. Turning one hundred and eighty degrees around they headed back to the barracks.

Toshiro took a bite of his treat and smiled at the flavor and temperature while Karin began to devour her dessert like there was no tomorrow.

The barracks approached Toshiro's sight and reminded him of the paperwork he would have to do once he got back. Karin was supposed to help him though, and as he looked over at her eating her dessert he couldn't find he felt the day was truly wasted. (7)

* * *

(1) As far as I'm aware I completely made this up, I just wanted her to have lived a bit before death but be physically the same age as Toshiro. The general idea is her Soul was in a panic so her spiritual pressure reacted and closed in on itself, changing her spiritual appearance. I mean, why not? The Kurosaki's are known for being impossible.

(2) This is sort of about how humans might date for two or three years before getting married but to a Soul that would be like two or three weeks. I figure relationships must progress much more slowly for them. Like, they would crush on each other for years but not do anything because their perception of time makes it not seem anywhere near as long. I probably won't be doing a bunch of time skips as their relationship continues but for that I'm just taking artistic liberties. It probably wouldn't actually happen that fast.

(3) I would assume that in Soul Society they would make everything with Reishi anyways so there wouldn't be too big of a difference between the two. I mean if everything's made out of the same stuff and is probably formed with kido the people handling it would just try to make it serve the same function as the stuff in the world of the living so the terms could be interchangeable.

(4) I know this might seem a little out of character but hear me out. Toshiro is supposed to mentally have the maturity of a teenager regardless of how long he's actually been alive. He might be fine most of the time but every once in awhile wouldn't the memories from his childhood come back. I can't imagine he's not traumatized at all. Considering I didn't make him act or do anything to imply PTSD I'd say he's still shown reasonably well. I know I would have PTSD if I experienced what he did.

(5) In my first version of the chapter I had Toshiro release his zanpakuto but in all honesty that seems like overkill. We already know he can lower the temperature without using it and when he does release his sword he's capable of freezing people and buildings and huge monsters. It seems like there's no need for him to release his sword for this.

(6) For the toppings you should really look up Japanese shaved ice. They aren't too different but there's enough differences that I consider them different things. Also, as for Karin getting rainbow jelly on her's I have no idea if that's something she likes. I just happen to really like it so I'm making her get some too.

(7) Right, so, as I said this is just a rewriting of my first chapter. I wrote this originally so I could try the romance genre out and back then I was mostly writing a bunch of one-shots so that's what this was too. After that though, I started writing slightly longer stories and wrote a really long one for Detective Conan so at that point I was just like, why not make this one longer. That's why this chapter was so much worse in quality, I thought of writing the rest after some time had passed. Once I had decided I was going to make this really long I realized the first chapter was still pretty bad and that might be keeping some people from giving my story a chance. That's why I decided to rewrite the first chapter. If you're a new or returning reader I hope you enjoy my story!

(8) Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

"Why are you here now, Kurosaki?" Hitsugaya sighed and sent an annoyed almost-pleading look to his third seat in the hope that he would get some once-in-a-lifetime mercy from her. "I'm a bit busy, I really need you to try and come back later."

"Not until you stop calling me Kurosaki, I'm afraid." Her strong refusal was accompanied by a smirk that said far better than words that she knew how annoyed her captain was getting. Just a bit more poking at him and she was sure he'd snap. "You know, if you keep being such a stick in the mud you might lose me, your only friend."

"Karin! Nice as it is to see you now I'm busy and I need to ask you to leave. Now please." Setting down him pen on the table Toshiro made eye contact with her, trying to ignore her joy she had at succeeding in making him yell.

When she finally heard him snap and yell Karin knew taking her free time to go bug her captain was completely worth it. While he may be familiar with Karin and used to her behavior his already testy patients became as thin as a needle when he was swarmed with paperwork.

"You know, it's already past noon. You should be getting hungry by now."

"So should you, so that begs the question: why are you here?"

Karin leaned over his desk slightly so that she had his full attention and raised her eyebrows. "Well, for one thing I seem to remember getting a certain captain to agree to go have lunch with me this week."

"Yes, this week. Why do you need to do it now? There's still three more days before 'this week' is over. Can't we go out to eat together later?"

To Hitsugaya's annoyance Karin pulled away the papers he had been writing on and moved them away from his desk. She set the mission reports down on a nearby desk where he wouldn't be able to keep working on them.

"Do you really expect me to believe you'll be any less busy sometime later in the week? Sorry, I'm not taking that chance."

"I have a lot of work left to-"

"Oh? Really, that's a surprise. My workaholic captain still isn't finished with his work? That's highly unusual, maybe you've burned yourself out and need to take a break." Toshiro frowned slightly and tensed in apprehension at the mocking edge to Karin's expression.  
"Where are you going with this?"

"What do you say we go out to lunch together and I'll make sure you get an actual meal instead of the tea and watermelon you always have?"  
"That's completely… I mean…" Having already promised to eat with her Toshiro found there was nothing he could say to refute her suggestion.

Seeing that, Karin smiled with the knowledge she was finally going to get him to have lunch with her. Toshiro stood up and tried to leave with a mumbled excuse of 'I-should-probably-check-on-Matsumoto-and-make-sure-the-division-is-still-standing' but Karin grabbed his arm and started to shunpo to a nearby restaurant.

"You know, Shiro." She began when they finally stopped right outside of a restaurant. "It's probably not healthy for you to refuse to eat with your friends simply because it's not a 'productive' thing to do with your time. You've pretty much poisoned yourself with the belief you can't have any fun."

Her unwilling guest glared at her, not wanting to admit she had him completely figured out. Instead, he tried again to escape by bringing up a different point.

"I really have a lot of work, more than usual, I shouldn't be spending my time here. Can't you let me go handle that first, we can eat together later."

"Why do you have so much more work than usual? I know for a fact that you haven't been slacking off and Matsumoto hasn't done anything that should create much more work for you. What's up? Did something go wrong on a mission?"

"No, it's about the new squad members that just left the academy. I need to go and judge their capabilities before I really start training them. I refuse to give a seated position to anyone who is not qualified physically or mentally for it."

Karin hesitated now, her foot just outside the restaurant door with her hand reaching up for the wooden handle.

That wasn't good. He really couldn't come if he had to work with the new squad members. And if he didn't come now she probably wouldn't be able to get him to come at all.

Then she remembered a very similar scenario happening when she wanted to get her captain to join her at a fair.

"Alright then, in that case why don't I help you again. We can have a late lunch together and it'll be over faster if I'm there to assess their capabilities as well."

"Have you already finished all of your own work?"

"Of course. I seem to remember that when I brought up this lunch idea to you your condition was that I finish all of my own work. You really should be grateful, I spent several long, tiring, boring, dull and wasted hours finishing those sheets of paper."

"It's important work!"

"Mmhm. Of course it is. And so? Will you be accepting my help or not?" Karin's smirk turned into more of a genuine smile as she heard him sigh in a way that all at once said, 'you-are-impossible-and-exhausting-and-make-me-so-much-less-productive' while also somehow saying 'and-I-somehow-still-love-you.'

"...Fine." Toshiro rubbed his forehead to help with the headache he was getting from all this. "Help me out with this and we'll see if we have any time left over for lunch."

Karin finally removed her hand from his arm and followed Toshiro into the training grounds. Enough time had passed since Karin achieved the rank of third seat that the other Shinigami didn't bat an eye when she entered with Toshiro and stood next to him in front of the new officers.

"Hello, I am Toshiro Hitsugaya, the captain of squad ten. I will be your captain starting today. To my right is my third seat, Kurosaki Karin. You will be expected to arrive here every morning at 7:00 for training with an assigned instructor. Do not be late. Are there any questions?"

As always the responses to hearing their captain speak for the first time was mixed among the new recruits. There was a handful of the more shy newcomers who stared, unresponsive, at the ground in fear. Talking to a third seat and captain- even young ones- had completely shut their minds down, the spiritual pressure that came as a result of being near such powerful people causing a cold sweat to drip down their backs.

It annoyed all of the current captains, young and old, that they were thought of as a mix between monsters and gods by the civilians and some students. Having people tremble at their mere presence only strengthened the invisible barrier between the souls with spiritual pressure and those without. It also made some souls have impossible expectations of their captains and lead to a lack of focus during invasions. 'We have unstoppable Captains, why should we pay attention when we're on security duty? There's nothing that can beat them anyways.'

Then there was a second group, the more ambitious souls. They tended to at least respect their captains but also withheld opinions or comments to make a good impression. A vast majority of the members of this group were nobles but most captains tolerated this behavior. While they would prefer to get different opinions they had confidence in their own ability to make decisions.

The third group was by far the worst, those who joined squad ten specifically for the people running it. To be more precise, they were after a beautiful and relaxed lieutenant and the youngest captain. A superior who they could have fun with and a superior who was too immature and got promoted too fast and would be easy to intimidate. His rank would be inconsequential, he could be easily pushed around and manipulated.

These people were also not intelligent enough to notice his tightly controlled but obviously dangerous power and his no-nonsense attitude.

One of the people from this last group raised their hand, indicating they had a question. Karin instantly recognized the group this person would belong to and could already predict what their question would be. Well, if nothing else it would make for a good demonstration to the rest of the group.

"Yes? You in the back?"

The new shinigami looked directly into Toshiro's eyes, arrogance clear on his features. "Are you really a captain? You don't look all that strong, do you really expect me to believe you're powerful enough to easily destroy a country(1)? I'm pretty sure any of us over here could defeat either one of you."

Toshiro had to bite back a sigh. A reaction like this was why he always went to ceremonies or speeches given to civilians in his bankai. An older body did wonders when trying to make a respectful impression.

At least he could turn this into a demonstration without offending the noble's family in the process. It was widely known that it was insubordination to disrespect a captain like this, the noble family would only embarrass themselves further if they tried to retaliate.

"If you truly doubt my power I would be willing to spar with you. We can move to the training field to give you all a better idea of the geography here. Anyone who wants to join is welcome to, feel free to challenge me at the same time."

Everyone, even those who already respected the captains, were excited to watch. In the backs of their minds they also had doubts about his strength, this would give them a much better idea of what their were aiming for in terms of skill.

They had a pretty good idea of the level of skill their classmates had, but they had heard rumors about the prodigy who had finished the academy in one year. This would let them know how far they were from the top.

Toshiro stood in front of his opponent calmly, not even tensing in anticipation for the battle. The two shinigami studied each other for a moment, his opponent becoming increasingly annoyed at (what he thought was) being disrespected by a weak child.

Some of the more shy shinigami became worried for the small captain, but Karin's amused expression helped alleviate some of those concerns. A few were actually worried for the one challenging the captain.

Karin and Toshiro were the physically youngest members of the court guard squad's upper ranks. She was also the youngest in terms of age but very few in Soul Society cared about that. Due to their appearances both had to constantly prove themselves so scenes like this were commonplace.

"Excuse me?" A girl called out to Toshiro before the match began, "Sir, my name is Kanna. I do acknowledge your power and authority but I would like permission to test my strength against third seat Karin. I would like to get a better idea of the power required for your ranks than just by watching a match. Is that a possibility?"

Toshiro smiled, glad he was getting respect from some of the newcomers, and gestured to an open area in the training grounds. For a brief moment he made eye contact with Karin and delivered a message.

Go test her and see what she can do.

Pulling her blade out Karin stood across from the new girl, a slight jolt of excitement running through her body. If she had to guess the girl's fighting style based off her personality it would be graceful and practiced, but also well crafted. She looked to have experience fighting and showed no signs of nervousness, but also no overconfidence. If Karin looked closer she could also swear she saw a glimmer of playfulness hidden behind the girl's polite exterior.

Both girls made eye contact. Sparks of life and excitement mirrored each other in each girl's eyes.

"Ready? Begin!"

Karin began slowly, using simple academy-taught sword techniques and basic shunpo. The other girl, Kanna, immediately realized she was being tested by her third seat and quickly began to retaliate. Karin was pleasantly surprised when her attacks were returned with power and accuracy built from experience.

And, oddly enough, that experience seemed to be the result of fighting in real battles or huge amounts of sparring, not the continued repetition of techniques the academy taught.

Interesting.

Out of the corner of her eye Kari saw Toshiro calmy blocking the now panicked frenzy of attacks his opponent was sending him with his usual calm ease. It seemed Karin was the only one who got someone interesting to fight now.

Another glance over proved that his opponent's mental state and confidence were rapidly decreasing. Every time Toshiro blocked his sword and every time the newcomer failed to get out of the way in time made him more panicked and frightened. He, apparently, had a reputation to uphold in which he's a fighter who can easily defeat his child captain.

Needless to say, it wasn't working. Toshiro was so far out of his league in every way that he hadn't moved away from the area he started at despite the attempts by his opponent.

He was still on a completely different level than her. Karin knew she needed to catch up.

Turning her attention back to her own fight she watched as the girl in front of her caught her breath then got into an exceptional fighting stance. Karin could acknowledge that this girl was skilled at sword fighting, no doubt about that-she was actually having some fun, but there also seemed to be a sense of awkwardness in it.

Not in the sense of she's-not-used-to-fighting, more in the sense of she's-not-fighting-in-the-same- way-she-normally-does. Maybe Karin would be able to get her to fight normally if she pushed the other girl.

Karin lept forward and they clashed swords. Quickly, she ducked under another strike and aimed a slash up across the other girl's chest which was just barely dodged. She could feel even with both of them holding back that Karin had more reiatsu than her opponent, so she knew the trick wasn't that the other girl was hiding her power. Then what was it?

Determined to get the other girl to reveal her abilities Karin used the girl being off-balence from her previous swing to aim an attack at the girl's neck.

Kanna's previously calm expression turned slightly worried as she felt the zanpakuto nick her skin when she couldn't quite dodge.

"Hado no Ichi, Sho!" In that instant Karin was pushed away from Kanna in a flash of light from the kido's reiatsu. So that's what she had been hiding, she liked to fight with kido but wanted to test her third seat without it and see how far that got her.

Karin lept up and took to the air, using her increased mobility to get much closer to Kanna. She watched as Kanna instantly responded with an attack of her own

Sparks flew as their zanpakuto clashed, the high-pitched clang of metal echoing in their ears. Kanna immediately used a tricky mix of shunpo to get behind Karin and attacked her neck. In that same second Karin realized the other girl's strategy and blocked the sword.

They separated, each taking a moment to catch their breath and study their opponent. Karin had mostly figured out Kanna's fighting style but it seemed like Kanna also realized her own strengths lay in zanjutsu and reaction time. Both girls made eye contact and instantly communicated. (2)

Time to step things up a notch.

A flash of resolution entered each girl's eyes as they pointed their zanpakuto to the sky and each began to chant. Kanna took a deep breath while keeping an eye on Karin for any sneak attacks. While they were far enough away that one probably wouldn't work it couldn't hurt to be careful.

"Bend the air to your will, Kazani!"

Karin smirked, having felt Kanna most likely had already unlocked her Shikai during the fight. Without wasting a second she followed with her own release phrase.

"Cut through all in your path, Aella!"

Karin's zanpakuto allowed her to destroy and defensive barriers she hit as long as she put more reiatsu than what was holding up the barrier into her sword. This, coupled with her great reiatsu, made it near-impossible to use a kido shield against her.

This ability would also work against the natural protection that formed from having a soul with high reiatsu, making her a devastating close combat fighter.

Soon, Karin realized how eerily Kanna's abilities mirrored and paralleled her own. Kanna's sword, Kazani, gave her the ability to use the air to create walls in front of her or to block attacks or use bursts of air like a rocket to propel her away. Karin soon saw the parallels between Kanna and her soul's abilities through the fight.

Kanna was extremely polite but seemed to be hiding a more mischievous side to herself behind several tight masks. The air was moved in ways that seemed simple and straightforward at first but could easily be used to trick an opponent. Karin learned the second part right after Kanna began to use wind to push her around the area. It was hard to attack someone or defend against them when a burst of wind was pushing you the other way. Sometimes it would be so small it was hard to notice but it made an impact all the same.

Karin was normally confident in her shunpo abilities but now she had the air working against her as her opponent soared through with no difficulties.

She's moving the air just slightly so she has no resistance, Karin realized. That's annoyingly tricky to deal with. Despite this, Karin had to admit she was really starting to have fun.

When Karin died she lost one of the advantages her brother had over the other Shinigami that allowed him to go toe to toe with their highest ranks so quickly. She was no longer a human who could improve at a rate that dwarfed every other soul. She hadn't inherited much of her Mom's Quincy side in the first place so that wasn't an issue. The loss of the speed she improved, however, was.

Luckily, her dad being a former Shinigami captain and her brother being pretty much the most powerful soul in existence (3) made her improve at a faster rate than most other souls.

As the fight continued Karin realized the other girl had certain similarities to her. While there were obviously big differences Kanna seemed to largely rely on her reiatsu reserves to keep the defenses she needed up. When attacked Kanna would either respond by dodging (without air resistance) or defending with her spiritual pressure, never countering.

Interesting, maybe it could be used against her.

Karin moved in, fully aware she was less tired than Kanna was, and used the other girl's exhaustion to her into her guard. Kanna tried to move away but having already expected that Karin kept charging.

"Hado no Sa-" Karin once again moved close, cutting off Kanna's kido with a barely dodged swing and strike follow-up.

Once Kanna realized she wouldn't be able to escape she tried ramming into Karin with her defences up, only to find herself falling through the air.

Karin had used the fact that Kanna was staying mostly still to aim a kick at her head. Considering they weren't trying to kill each other it would be impossible for Karin to device to aim a strike there… if she had been using her sword, that is.

Targeting a weak point in Kanna's defence had sent the newcomer falling through the air, stopping just before she reached the ground.

In the next second a sword was at her throat.

"I-I yield." Kanna breathed out in between taking big gasps of air. Karin was significantly less tired but a layer of sweat had still started to form. Smirking, Karin re-sheathed her sword, sporting next to no injuries other than minor scratches. A medic soon came and helped Kanna with the wound on her neck as well as checked her head for a concussion.

"That was fun, we should try sparring again sometime. No one agrees to spar with me anymore since I made it to third seat so I have to keep sparring with our Lieutenant or Captain all the time unless my brother comes to visit."

Hearing that the crowd which had formed around them drew closer. They had been watching both fights but the one between the two girls was the far more interesting of the two.

"Um… miss?" One of the more shy members asked, then flinched when the attention of the entire crowd turned to them. "You said your brother, and you last name is Kurosaki, is your brother by any chance the…"

"Yup," Karin frowned, wondering what their point was. "He's Ichigo Kurosaki, he helped Soul Society out a bunch of times. Why?"

Stars appeared in the eyes of the listeners, much to Karin's annoyance. Whispers of 'the war hero, the victor of the Winter and Thousand Year Blood War' began circulating through the group and awed and hushed tones.

Toshiro walked back with the nobles he had 'sparred' with and also frowned at the whispers. Ichigo hated being called the hero of anything but was able to suck it up most of the time to make a good impression. The big thing he had a problem with is that, despite his title being hero, his victory after the Thousand Year Blood War made him some sort of God in the people's eyes. He hated being compared to Aizen or Bach- even if unintentionally.

Karin decided to tune out the annoying whispers behind her and instead focused on the pile of unconscious bodies at Toshiro's feet.

Karin shunpo'd over to him and gave him an entirely-too-amused look. "What in the hell happened to them?"  
One of the formerly-overconfident recruits gave a pained groan that told more than words could ever hope to. Some who were starting to wake up stared at the Captain with absolute terror while the others could only shiver in their sleep.

Toshiro sent Karin a cold glare, only succeeding in proving how grumpy he was, and explained. "Once I beat the first handful a few other nobles joined to preserve his honor and the whole situation continued to escalate until it got out of control. The good thing is that I don't think I missed any of the nobles who believe they can disrespect their superiors, the bad thing is you might need to give them their missions until they're comfortable being in the same room as me again."

"Wow." Karin sent them a smile worthy of the devil that was at once deceptive and overpowering-then remembered what she wanted to tell him. "Oh and by the way, Kanna's joining us for lunch."

"What?" "What!?"

Karin sent both her captain and her new friend a scowl as she explained. "Wow, you're both unbelievable. I'm saying it's lunch time and we might as well spend it with Kanna if she has no prior plans. She's new to the squad and probably isn't too familiar with anyone else, or do you have a problem with this?"

Kanna blinked and then slowly shook her head, hesitation and confusion clear in her expression. "I- um… if both of you wouldn't mind I think I'd have fun joining you for lunch. I don't really know anyone else, so it could be fun."

Karin smiled slightly at seeing this. She was learning all sorts of sides to her today, the polite mask, the crafty hidden layer and the slightly-unsocial core that would rarely show itself. She walked over and looped an arm through Kanna's to make sure the other girl wouldn't be able to escape.

Toshiro sighed but finally gave in when he saw the happiness in the two girls' expressions. "Alright, if you say so."

"Thank's, Shiro!"

This was perfect. Karin was trying to get her captain to open up more to people other than herself, her brother, Momo and his Lieutenant. It would be good for him to get some more people he could consider to be his friends. While Ichigo Kurosaki counted Toshiro was terrible at socializing, especially considering he gave off an impression of a prodigy. Most people couldn't consider trying to become friends with someone better than them at nearly everything.

Toshiro began a final speech to the newcomers then dismissed them all to lunch. Karin continued to hold onto Kanna's arm then dragged her new friend with them to the restaurant.

* * *

At first Kanna gave Toshiro the impression of a respectful and polite girl, but he- like Karin- soon found that was not the case. As it turned out her more mischievous side loved the idea of teasing her new friends about their relationship.

"Are you sure?"

"YES!" Toshiro finally snapped, having long-since gotten embarrassed at the topic of their current conversation.

"Because you and Karin seem to act a bit closer than what's strictly required for Captain and Third Seat. I just want to know what boundaries and secrets the two of you share."

"We're just friends, Kanna. It's nothing more than that." Karin interrupted, a deadly glare being sent Kanna's way. It might have been intimidating if it weren't for the red on her cheeks making her head look more like a tomato.

"Uh huh."

"Really! There's nothing between us, I promise." Karin pretended not to hear Kanna's whisper of 'yet' when she finished.

"Oh, Captain, who's this?" A voice interrupted, surprising Karin. Kanna had seen the speaker before she said anything and Toshiro had recognized her spiritual pressure.

"What are you doing here, Matsumoto?" He asked without turning around. They were having a very late lunch, either his Lieutenant was doing the same (unlikely) or she was skipping out on her work to go shopping.

"I just came to get a bite to eat, you worry too much Captain! So, who's the new girl?"

"Ah, it's nice to meet you. My name is Kanna, I'm a new member of the tenth division. You're the Lieutenant, correct?" Kanna asked, the polite mask back on in full force.

"I am, call me Matsumoto-fukutaicho. What're you all talking about with our new friend here?" As she spoke Matsumoto sat down at an empty seat on the table, aggravating Toshiro further. He also couldn't help but notice she had said 'our' new friend.

Within a matter of minutes Matsumoto was able to completely break through Kanna's first mask and the two began to gossip about the Thirteen Court Guards. Deciding such a conversation was completely boring Karin brought up some recent Japanese soccer news from the world of the living with Toshiro.

"Yeah, oh and I heard that when there was a fair recently Captain and Karin-chan both went together!" That got Toshiro and Karin's attention.

"We're not dating!"

"How did you even find out about that?"

Karin and Toshiro were promptly ignored by the more social of the two.

Kanna nodded along with what Matsumoto was saying. "Wow, I didn't realize they had gotten so far in their relationship. Have they already kissed?"

""WHAT?""

Matsumoto couldn't help the laugh that escaped her at the expressions of her colleges. All the noise began attracting the attention of the souls sitting at nearby tables. Another thing they noticed was that the temperature in the room had gone down far too fast for it to be natural.

Having felt he had been embarrassed long enough Toshiro began to usher a still-laughing Matsumoto out of the restaurant so they could eat in peace.

"Am I to take that to mean you haven't kissed yet?" Karin nodded franticly at the question and quickly changed the subject as Toshiro returned.

Once their food came the talking slowed down, each person eating as much as they could-hungry from having lunch so late in the day. Toshiro's bad mood lifted slightly and he allowed the air to become a bit more comfortable for the people around him.

"Oh, who's this?" A new voice asked the same question once again, giving Toshiro a similar feeling of dread.

"Orihime. (3)" Karin said surprised, opting out of using Yuzu's nickname of 'Hime-neechan' at all costs. Toshiro reacted similarly, only he had a bit more dread for what he knew was going to come with the woman.

His fears were proven true a second later when a man with bright orange hair came up behind his wife with his usual scowl.

"What's up, Hime? I thought we were going to the fourth so you can help." A second after he asked he (finally) noticed he recognized the spiritual pressures in front of him and looked up. "Oh, Karin. Toshiro. And this is…?"

"Kanna," Karin answered, "A new member of Toshiro's squad. I invited her to come to lunch with us so that's why we're all there now."

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho," was mumbled but was either left unheard or simply ignored.

"Oh, I see. So it's like the mysterious transfer student who becomes friends with the main characters except in a squad instead of a school! Ichigo, sorry for running away, I recognized their spiritual pressures as we were walking so I decided to come over and say 'Hi'. It's nice to meet you Kanna, I'm Orihime Kurosaki."

Ichigo nodded along while the others were still lost on the first part of what she said and introduced himself. "And I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. Orihime's my wife, you could say we're sort of like members of the Gotei Thirteen except we don't have any responsibilities or a position. I'm also Karin's older brother."

Kanna had immediately recognized Ichigo by his hair and was left slightly awestruck by the fact that a 'hero' was in front of her. She was able to recover at hearing Ichigo was Karin's brother and was able to at least be polite.

"It's very nice to meet both of you, I'm honored. My name is Kanna, I hope I'll be able to see you in action then, I've heard stories about the two of you."

"Us too, well Karin, I'll leave you with some more time for you to be alone with Toshiro, have fun. We need to get to the fourth now."

"Bye Karin." Ichigo and Orihime waved as they left, leaving Karin both embarrassed and happy at the same time. While she loved her brother the comment about Toshiro was unnecessary and she was a bit glad he wouldn't stay to tease her.

They were just about finished with their food so Kanna excused herself to get back to the division so she wouldn't miss the tour they were giving new members. Karin frowned, a bit unsure of what they should do now.

"Do you have any plans already?" She asked once the awkwardness of being alone sunk in. Toshiro leaned back in his chair for a moment in thought.

"I have more paperwork but I also have a phone call I need to make in about forty-five minutes. I'm going to try to avoid starting on that now and I don't have any other appointments so… want to take a break and play soccer?"

Before Karin had arrived in Soul Society Toshiro would never have considered taking a break from his work regardless of if he had anything to do. She smiled, knowing that after several years she had finally been able to wear down some of his workaholic personality.

"I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

1) Yes, I said country. I had city there but then I thought about it and decided to change it. From what I saw of Toshiro's power at the end of Bleach it wouldn't be too hard for him to do that. He was able to freeze reishi and everything in front of him. While he could probably only get a few cities with one attack for all I know he could just as easily destroy a country. Plus, I'm going on the interpretation that when Ichigo was able to fight the Quincy boss who wanted to destroy the word he meant the whole dimension. Ichigo for me has enough power to destroy everything in this dimension because Soul Society or Hueco Mundo could be considered one 'world' but is actually a dimension.

2) They always wait before releasing their swords and seem to almost always do it at the same time. As far as I can tell it might be because it's easier for them to get a read on their opponents without using the Shikai abilities, so even if their style is read more easily it's worth it to figure out what they can. It would be bad if they're surprised by something they could have figured out by fighting normally first but that's just my interpretation of this. Tell me what you all think in a review. It just makes a lot of sense to me.

3) I'm going to have Ichihime here, it's canon after all, so sorry if that bothers anyone. It shouldn't play too big of a role if you have anything against this ship. Also, Orihime's going to have a personality that's slightly influenced by her personality in Bleach (S) abridged because I think she's awesome in that. I personally love Ichihime but only started to after I read 'why IchiHime was obvious as hell for endgame' by Ichinoue. Here's a link to that: post/149149871875/why-ichihime-was-obvious-as-hell-for-endgame

4) For this whole re-writing thing I'm not sure how many chapters I'll do. I want to increase my work count but I also want to keep adding chapters until I finish the story. So, because of that, I've got no clue how many I want to re-write. I'm planning on also re-writing my other stories when I'm done with this one but I've got no clue how long that'll take. It might take a few months or it could take a _year_ for me to finish, I just kinda have to roll with whatever happens. So, you don't need to worry, I'll be getting more chapters out I just wanted to re-write some of them.

5) Thank you for reading! Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

"I still can't believe you managed to talk me into this…" Karin gave a small laugh at Toshiro's comment as she ducked under a slash from Kanna.

Karin directed an attack to the girl but missed as Kanna used shunpo to move several feet higher. Readying her blade Karin prepared for her next attack until she heard Kanna's words.

"Hado no ichi-"

Karin firing a long ranged attack in the form of a sword slash cut off her opponent's words before the phrase could be finished. The attack surprised the other girl and kept her off balance, making it easy for Karin to trip her. She tried to roll out of the way but had the wind knocked out of her and remained frozen long enough for Karin to bring her sword to her neck.

"Checkmate." Karin's confident and absolute words made it clear to everyone that the battle was over, and who had won. Toshiro brought the two girls down and used healing kido to help them.

"Karin, good work. Your skill with your zanpakuto is continuing to improve at an admirable rate. I do however think you need to stop letting the attacks your opponent sends you become so close."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it shiro. I need to stop being so rash with offense and focus more on my opponent. We can't all be perfect prodigies." Karin teasing tone made it clear that she had heard him say that several times before.

Toshiro gave a sigh laced with familiarity as he turned to his new squad member.

"Kanna, are you able to use kido without chanting?" He asked as Kanna's eyes suddenly widened in slight fear, as if she had not meant to show that much. Half a second later, however, she returned to her normal composed state and made Toshiro wonder for a moment if it was a trick of the light.

"Yeah… but only the first two or three, any more than that is too much for me," she complained as Toshiro began healing her arm.

"What about healing kido? You must have some skill in that too." Karin mentioned, hoping that she would be able to heal and they could practice on their own.

"Not as much as Captain Hitsugaya I'm afraid. I just don't have the reiatsu reserves that he has."

"Very few do. That's the main reason I'm the one here." Toshiro reassured her, glad that it was the more polite part of her personality in control. He could work with this version of her, the kind that would actually listen to him. He hadn't seen her more mischievous side since that first lunch. That relief suddenly vanished, however, when he saw her suddenly smirk.

"Though Karin, I'm curious. Are his giant reiatsu reserves the only reason you have him watch out fights? For healing us afterwards, I'm sure you could ask or blackmail someone from the fourth or kido corps who doesn't have as much to do as a captain. Unless… you want the captain specifically to be the only one who gets close to you…"

Karin turned bright red and Toshiro had a rosy layer decorating his usually pale skin. "I-that's not- I mean, we're not-"

"It's not like that I just view training some of my strongest subordinates a very important job. I assure you it's nothing else." Toshiro saved Karin with words that would have been convincing if not for the pink dust on his face.

"I'm not sure I completely believe you, but if you say so. Though one thing I'm still a bit confused about is how you understand Karin's fighting style so well. I would think you wouldn't know everything about it if you don't spend much time watching us practice. Or is it just her style that you're familiar with."

Shaking his head to snap out of it Toshiro hurriedly switched the topic to one he was much more comfortable with and why he was present in the first place.

"Kanna, you were right that it was a good idea to use kido there but you have to remember to stay on guard at all times. I'll start teaching you to use kido while moving soon. Karin, your sword skill is great, I have no complaints about it but you were almost hit several times because you were too focused on offense. Try to balance that out a little."

Both girls nodded and stretched their limbs as Toshiro helped them up. "We're going to start doing individual practice. Karin, I'm sure you already know what to work on." Toshiro paused as Karin nodded in confirmation. "Good, Kanna, you're going to be with me. I want to help you improve your stealth. Your kido is great and you have far more opportunities to use it if you know how to hide yourself."

"Right!"

* * *

Toshiro smiled as he watched Karin practicing sparring with several seated members. At just over 100 and just over 150 the two of them were still the youngest captain and third seat pair soul society ever had. Toshiro had been in his late 90's when he had first met the 12 year old daughter of his captain but by soul society standards they were about the same age.

Since then he had watched her grow older and then die. Become a soul that grew in power and skill thanks to his teachings.

"Captain, if you keep focusing on your girlfriend I'm never going to learn anything." Toshiro spun around in surprise and stood flabbergasted for several seconds.

"I- that… I wasn't… she's not-"

"Whatever you say captain~"

Toshiro glared at the girl he was teaching. How had such a polite girl become so vicious the second she got to know them. She was still kind and polite to everyone else!

"Anyways! If we're going to get you better at hiding yourself I need to see what you can do. Would you mind trying to seal your reiatsu within yourself? Try to not let any of it leak out."

Kanna nodded and took a deep breath. Soon, Toshiro noticed her power being forced back into herself as a slow, controlled river.

Opening her eyes and wiping some sweat from her forehead Kanna looked up for confirmation. "Like this?"

"Yes, good work. You have less reiatsu than Karin but you have most people here beat in control- you should try to perfect this advantage." Toshiro walked around the girl so that he was behind her and placed a hand on her back. "Now, I'm going to spread my reiatsu around you just barely not touching you. I want you to not let any of your reiatsu to leak out and come into contact with some of mine. Imagine I'm an enemy and you need to keep your own reiatsu hidden from theirs."

"Understood." Kanna closed her eyes and felt Toshiro's strong, overwhelming reiatsu surround her. Despite the cold that came with it his reiatsu felt comforting in a 'I'll never let anything hurt you' kind of way.

Making sure she had a tight hold of her power she allowed it to circulate through her body without ever coming into contact with the energy her captain was giving off.

Several seconds turned to minutes turned to half an hour of the same exercise until Kanna finally lost energy and collapsed. Toshiro caught her just before her head hit the ground and sat her down.

"I won't be able to help you like this very often, this was one of the few days I set aside to personally come train with you. Ask whoever is leading the training for help with this in the future, alright?"

"Right. Thank you for your help today captain." Toshiro gave her a nod and left to help some other new members.

Kanna sat in silence for several seconds. Right, she wouldn't let her captain down. Not after all the work her put in. Besides, it would be helpful for her long term goals to be able to hide her reiatsu. She just had to put a lot of work in.

* * *

"Welcome to the Shinigami women's association!" Matsumoto yelled with a huge smile as she brought her new friend and squad member, Kanna, to the meeting. "Everyone! Karin couldn't come today 'cause she's going to the world of the living on a mission but I brought a new friend. This is Kanna, she just joined our squad."

Kanna was suddenly surrounded by the high ranking Shinigami who belonged to the association who were all curious about the new girl. Giving a slight bow she decided to start off by introducing herself.

"Hello, my name is Kanna. It's nice to meet all of you." Kanna soon found that everyone there was easy to get along with and not as intimidating as would be expected for people of their ranks. A bell was rung and everyone stood at the walls making a circle around Matsumoto, their presenter, as she began talking.

"Now then, let's get to the most important topic of the day." Matsumoto began, building up suspense. "THE FESTIVAL!"

A round of applause and cheers burst through the building as the women began planning every detail of their coming holiday together.

The jobs were divided so that an appropriate amount of people would find people to work at stalls, some would find security guards and some would work on decorating the area with things from the world of the living.

Matsumoto began making a list for different ideas various members had to make the festival more entertaining. The ideas ranged from a dango stall to arcade games from the world of the living to various competitions for soul reapers to take part in. One member even suggested a beauty contest.

"Oh, oh!" One member suddenly jumped up and down with excitement. "We should have a firework show at the end! I'm sure we can ask the remaining Shiba's for help and pointers on how to make them."

"Brilliant!" Matsumoto agreed, "It will be absolutely perfect. And it would be a great time for any couples to do something romantic. Yes, we absolutely must have it!"

"What's this festival for?" Kanna whispered to the woman next to her, Rukia Kuchiki.

"It's held every year to celebrate the end to the winter war. Lately though, it's become associated with romantic matters- I think that started happening when Ichigo and Orihime got married. Anyways, Karin's older brother is a VIP so he's going to be busy but she'll have nothing to do so maybe you can spend some time together. Or… you could help us with a little project."

"A little project?" Kanna whispered back in confusion. "What kind of project?"

Rukia smirked, pulling the other girl closer so she could whisper into her ear. "It's called: 'Operation HitsuKarin!'" Rukia dug into her bag and held up a picture of two bunnies holding hands. Suspiciously, one of them had white hair and one had black hair up in a pony tail. The hearts floating around the picture made it clear exactly what the drawing was meant to represent.

Kanna's following expression of utter joy would have sent even the most dangerous hollows running for miles.

* * *

Sorry for the lack of Hitsukarin this chapter. I promise more will be coming in the following chapters I just wanted to really introduce the new character. Sorry for anyone who wanted it to be Ichiruki but I love abridged Orihime so much and I saw no reason to change the cannon ship. While I know HitsuKarin isn't canon Momo always came across as more of a sister to me and I love how Toshiro was almost Isshin's son as his third seat. Him and Ichigo also act a bit like siblings so that makes Hitsugaya's relationship with Karin even more adorable. I'm not currently sure how long I'm going to make it but I have a general idea for how I want this story to end, hope you like it!


	4. Chapter 4

"Captain Hitsugaya?" Turning to the sound of his name the youngest captain in Soul Society's history saw his new recruit Kanna standing next to him.

"Yes? What can I help you with?" He was completely lost as to her reason for being there. Normally when they saw each other it was because Karin was dragging them out to do something 'fun' together but she was currently on another mission.

A deep breath caused Kanna's formally nervous eyes to harden with resolve as she straightened her back and looked him in the eye.

"I would like to ask for sparring with no zanjutsu or hakuda against you, just kido. I understand that I should be more balanced but I would be honored to test my ability against a prodigy. I want to know how I compare against some of the best and I believe you could give me advice on the subject."

Toshiro closed his eyes for a second in thought as he considered the idea. "I do hope you realize that while I did get full marks at the academy on Kido I am not a member of the kido corps and balance my training more than they do."

"I do, but I also want to be balanced like you so you are the perfect person to test myself against. Also, the kido corps doesn't really practice for battles. Please!"

The last word had Kanna in a ninety degree bow in front of him. A pause, then a slight sigh that gave Kanna a spark of hope. "Meet me behind the training fields in half an hour, it's getting late and I don't want to attract a lot of attention. Some people still have work to do."

She stood up strait instantly and gave him an overjoyed smile. "Yes Captain!"

* * *

'This will be fun,' a certain new squad member thought as she moved to the training fields. 'Though it's hard to believe the captain has enough time to help an unseated member of his squad.'

A hop over a rock in her path and she continued to think about how surprisingly easy it was convince him to help. 'Could it be that he's just using the opportunity to test me? Maybe he's doing this to all new squad members and I happened to give him a good chance to do so. Maybe while we're in the middle of our kido battle he'll pull out Hyorinmaru and attack before yelling that I need to survive to pass his test. If that's the case what should I do?'

Her walk suddenly paused as she considered the idea, then shook her head. 'He may be a prominent military figure and capable of making sacrifices if necessary but he's not the kind of person who would do that. Not the one who was so easily embarrassed when I teased him about his relationship with Karin.'

As she thought a bit of her more mischievous personality came out and she made a spur of the moment decision.

'I'll go look and see. Maybe I can find out what he's doing now and it will tell me why.'

A quick jump turned her one hundred and eighty degrees in the air as she began tracing her steps to the division.

Crawling around the bend using the stealth techniques she had been taught earlier that day Kanna was able to move directly behind Toshiro's desk and the direction he was facing so she was completely out of his sight. While not perfect she was skilled enough with the new technique that she was able to avoid the attention of a highly overworked captain.

Peering in she suddenly took a step back in surprise at what she saw. Her captain's zanpakuto spirit was manifested (don't think they can do that but consider it artistic license) and helping him with the paperwork at breakneck spread. She hadn't known he always put so much effort into finishing his paperwork.

To her right Kanna heard several people walk by, seated squad members on their way back from reporting their mission. In a brief shock of fear her she held her breath but once she realized they wouldn't notice her she relaxed.

"That feels like the captain is using his zanpakuto to speed up his paperwork again, huh." One suddenly blurted out and attracted the attention of the others.

"Sure does, he always overworks himself so it's not much of a surprise I guess."

"That doesn't mean it's at all healthy for him." A female Shinigami complained, a glare of annoyance present on her face.

"You're right and after third seat Kurosaki found out she yelled at him for weeks, didn't she? I thought he had stopped after that since it completely drains his reiatsu."

"Maybe he has something to do later. Third seat Kurosaki is out right now but when she comes back someone should probably tell her… even if it means she annoys the captain which will freeze our division for the next few days."

Kanna remained in her stunned silence for several seconds. 'He's risking his health… just to train me? I suppose I was a bit stupid for considering that someone as honorable as him would do something so willingly cruel. How trusting.'

A smirk crossed her lips as she innerly mocked him for having so much dedication to help someone he barely knew. She didn't, however, notice the faint blush on her cheeks through the darkness in the shadowed window.

Pushing herself off the wall she stretched her arm and blasted away with shunpo to the agreed upon location. If she wanted to really thank him she would just need to put all her effort into the battle and prove his time wasn't wasted.

* * *

A chilly wind blew past the captain of the tenth division and his opponent, not that he was at all affected. His opponent, on the other hand, shivered at the rapidly declining temperature of the night.

"Are you alright doing this now?" Hitsugaya checked while Kanna began using her reiatsu to heat her body up.

"Yes, I'm fine. I won't ever be able to decide the landscape of a real battle so this is good practice." Toshiro nodded at her correct statement then got into a fighting stance.

"The rules are no shunpo, zanjutsu or hakuda. We are only going to use Kido in this battle but manipulating the reiatsu in your body other ways is also acceptable. The fight ends when one opponent gives, falls unconscious or otherwise becomes unable to continue fighting." Both Shinigami tensed as they gathered their reiatsu, spreading their focus to themselves and the world around them.

"Go!" Kanna made an aggressive leap forward then ducked behind a rock. Toshiro began to run around the boulder but was forced to suddenly jump back when a byakurai was fired from her hiding spot. Moving himself so he was out of her firing range gave Toshiro enough time to use Shakkaho to destroy the rock.

Surprised at the sudden disappearance of her cover Kanna hesitated for a moment before sending back a Hainawa that was easily dodged. It served it's purpose, however, as it brought Kanna enough time to get back on her feet.

Several blasts were sent to each other and they soon found their battle had brought them to a forest. Kanna quickly made the decision to use the reiatsu hiding ability she had learned while Toshiro did not. It would not be a good or accurate representation of a skilled Kido user as few would be able to sense her. He also knew what she was doing partly because he had just taught her how to do it.

The ability to shoot from the trees proved a big help to Kanna and she was able to attack without worrying about defense. After a minute of dodging Toshiro decided it was time to change things around and shot a Haien at the ground that exploded in a fearsome display of power and began to take down the nearby trees.

Surprised once again at her loss of hiding places Kanna was unprepared for an attack when she landed and was easily hit by a non lethal Soren Sokatsui.

"... I give up." Kanna finally breathed out after several frantic attempts to regain her composure. The low oxygen in her blood was starting to make her head hurt and she had already lost to begin with.

"Good work. I'd say what you should work on the most right now is keeping your guard up and getting more practice using Kido in actually combat."

"Understood, captain."

* * *

Karin bounced as she returned home from her mission. Technically she was still using shunpo but she gained more air than usual with each step and increased her speed as she went along.

During the mission she was talking with one of the other members of her team and learned a festival was coming up. The best part was there would be fireworks at the end to capture the moment and finish off the festival in a romantic manner.

Normally she wouldn't be the type to care about such things but this time was different. She always got excited during festivals that celebrated her brother but Toshiro had nothing to do during that time so they could spend the fireworks show… together.

Air blasted in all directions as she suddenly stopped her movement and released smoke from the heat her cheeks were giving off. Why had she just considered something like that, no she was happy just because everyone was celebrating her brother, that was all.

'Although…" she considered, 'it could be fun to get Toshiro to join in. I need to get him out of his office and he would at least be able to talk about soccer with me unlike everyone else in our squad. Maybe I should ask him if he wanted to do something together during the romantic firewo- the festival.'

Ichigo Kurosaki was always busy during the festival receiving 'thank you's and 'you're-amazing-Kurosaki-sama's and general praise. He wouldn't notice her leaving with Toshiro and if anything would support it. He already saw the captain as his brother and her father saw Toshiro as his son before any of them were even born.

Once Karin ended up in squad ten Ichigo seemed to come to the conclusion that if his sister was going to end up with someone Captain Hitsugaya was the best person for that to be. After that he started joining with Matsumoto and his father in crazy ideas to get the two of them together leading to the embarrassment of everyone involved.

Unknown to her the ice captain was having similar thoughts after his lieutenant told him the details of the festival. And having a similar reaction.

"Umm… sir? Should I come back later?" Blinking up Hitsugaya noticed that the tenth seat of his squad was standing in front of him and had been trying to get his attention for a while. Normally he would have noticed right away but he was slightly distracted.

"Should I go get a member of the fourth division? You look like you might have a fever and that never happens to you." His words caused Hitsugaya to heat up even more for a brief moment before he had Hyorinmaru cool him down.

"...No, I'm fine. Don't worry about it, continue your report."

"Right, sir. All members are alive and accounted for but one member will need a leave of absence in the fourth division for an estimated six days."

"Granted. Do you have the papers for me to sign?"

"Yes sir. Also, Lieutenant Matsumoto requests use of your powers so the Shinigami Women's association can get a look at what ice exploding as a firework looks like."

The tenth seat shrank back at the ice cold glare that suddenly filled the room with frozen power. "My abilities are not for her amusement nor the entertainment of the Shinigami women's association."

"Yes sir but she said that you were looking forward to the romantic fireworks at the end of the festival and they want to use your powers as a model."

"I never said-" Toshiro abruptly cut off as he realized both what Matsumoto was implying and what she had done. "What does she think she's doing spreading a rumor like that?"

His frustrated mumbling ended when he saw the tenth seat could no longer move in the ice that was no covering the floor of the room.

He forcefully calmed himself and allowed the area to return to it's former temperature. The second he could move again the tenth seat snapped to attention and apologized.

"Sir, sorry I just remembered I had somewhere to be and it's really important and yeah I can't be the go between for you and Lieutenant Matsumoto okay bye!"

Sighing at the obvious lie Toshiro found he couldn't completely blame the man as he had a high chance of disappearing for several weeks to the forth if he did that. It probably wasn't worth the effort to think of a punishment to give the man for lying and disrespecting his superior like Byakuya Kuchiki would.

A much better question for him to focus on was whether or not to ask Karin to watch the fireworks with him.

"Toshiro, I'm back!"

"It's captain Hitsugaya." Came the familiar response. "I'm your captain, the least you could do is get it right every once in awhile."

"I will eventually~" Karin plopped the mission report down on her captain's desk and gave a quick verbal report. "It was boring."

"That doesn't qualify as a report in any squad except maybe the eleventh. I want an actual one. And what do you mean it was boring? I thought you love hollow hunting."

"There was nothing to hunt! Everything in that area is so weak!"

"Considering it's not even in Japan I would hope there would be nothing there that could challenge a third seat."

"Yes, yes. It's supposed to be boring. Anyways no one died, a thirty seventh seated member is in the fourth right now but it's nothing major so they shouldn't need to take a leave of absence."

"I see, oh and while you were out I helped Kanna out with her kido. She's pretty good but she needs more help using it in real combat so it would be great if you could train with her some."

"Sure." Karin nodded, "So, the festival for ichi-nii's coming up soon. And I hear they're going to have a fireworks show after."

Immediately after saying this Karin turned around so Toshiro couldn't see the blush on her cheeks. 'You idiot what are you doing bringing it up so suddenly like that. It sounded completely forced too.'

"Y-yeah. It seems like Matsumoto is really excited. Do you have any plans for that time?" A similar feeling of embarrassment at how unnatural his words sounded filled Toshiro's mind and led to him becoming very interested in the files on his desk.

"I might just watch with Ichi-nii and Hime-nee but I don't have anything planned… would you like to do something together?" Is he trying to ask me out?

Is she saying she wouldn't mind spending time with me? I have work I need to finish but.. just this once it would probably be alright. "I think that could be a good occasion to spend time together or something." Realizing that his reiatsu was starting to go out of control due to his emotions Toshiro quickly switched the subject. "I apparently have to help Matsumoto and the Shinigami women's association by giving them an ice firework for them to base their designs off of."

'What? Did I just imagine he wanted to ask me to go with him and he just wants to spend time with every member of his squad? Right, he's a captain. He has responsibilities and probably doesn't need to go with me. How could I have been so stupid. And seriously, why would he phrase it in a way that makes me think he might want to spend time together?' "Actually it's fine I think I'll spend some time with Yuzu during the fireworks. She understands pretty things better than I do."

"Oh, right, of course." Toshiro nodded with a smile that, unknown to Karin, was completely fake. 'Of course she wouldn't want to spend time with me. I don't know anything about romance or fireworks. It'd probably be boring for her to begin with, at least her sister can tell her about the performance.'

He casually gazed at his schedule for something to do. "I'll probably help the Shinigami women's association during that time then."

"Sure…"

An awkward silence filled the room and was suddenly cut off by an unseated squad member bursting into the room.

"Sir! Lieutenant Matsumoto has brought sake and the division caught fire!" Toshiro burst up from his chair after hearing that and changed his behavior to be all business.

"Take me there!" The Shinigami across from them nodded and Toshiro jumped over the desk to follow the man, hoping to prevent a disaster. As he left, though, he kept a fraction of his mind on Karin.

As Karin watched Toshiro leave she sighed at her failure but new resolve poured through her body. Then, for a moment, both unknowingly had the exact same thought. 'Even if she/he doesn't want to or can't go with me yet I can still ask again later.'

* * *

I'm setting up a bit of a love rival for Toshiro and Karin. I just thought it would make everything a bit more interesting and I want to tie it into the bigger plot of my story. We got back to some HitsuKarin this chapter so I hope I did a good job with that. While they might be a lot older they have the mental maturity of kids so I wanted to show it like this: two kids maybe from the same school trying to ask each other out. Tell me if I did any one character super bad, I'll try harder next time.


	5. Chapter 5

'Alright, time for attempt two.' Karin thought as she took a deep breath. Despite her earlier failure she was determined to try and ask her captain to spend time with her again. She was definitely not confessing to him or anything- regardless of what Matsumoto and Kanna said. They were just trying to get on her nerves when they said those things and only chose Toshiro as the boy because all three of them knew him. It was nothing more... probably.

She knocked on the door to the captain's office and heard a slightly muffled, "Come in." Taking her invitation she opened the door only to find that Toshiro was buried behind several towering stacks of paper.

"Shiro? Are you still here?" A long sigh came as both her answer and proof of his work finally building up and taking a toll on him. He never gave any indication that he was tired with paperwork unless he had long since overworked himself. As she looked closer Karin noticed a tuff of white over the white paper moving around and indicating where her captain was trapped for the moment.

"Yes, I'm here. Apparently festivals require a lot of paperwork and despite some of it not having anything to do with the division Matsumoto still doesn't want to do hers. She doesn't do it even when it's her paperwork from the Shinigami Women's Association." He grumbled out, sounding more and more like a weird mix between a whining child and an overworked old man as time went on.

"Gocha, you've overworked yourself again right before the festival. I'll just go make you some tea."

"Thank you, that's appreciated." Karin never made tea for anyone unless Toshiro had overworked himself, according to her it was too boring and feminine. Despite that she was surprisingly skilled at making it so Toshiro appreciated it whenever it happened. A quick glance around the area proved Matsumoto was once again absent from her duties and was most likely having another party or preparing for the festival by visiting other Shinigami.

Once she brought the tea over she lifted up the paperwork and began organizing it so it would be easier for Toshiro to sign. Whenever he overworked himself Karin would do something like this so it didn't come as a surprise to either of them.

Several minutes in Karin remembered the reason she had come. While Toshiro was tired now they might both be busy in the following days so this was the best time for her to ask, it was sure to work. Probably…

"I guess you're not all that excited for the festival then?" Starting a conversation centered around the topic would make it seem more natural at least.

"That's about right. Helping Matsumoto out with her fireworks isn't helping either, it was a mistake to agree. Hopefully I'll be able to spend the rest of the festival relaxing."

His response worried Karin who didn't want to interrupt one of the only times Toshiro had to have fun. "It might not be quite as relaxing but maybe you should spend that time with someone. It's a special occasion after all." Might as well see what happens when the idea gets suggested.

Toshiro paused in his work, thinking about spending the festival with Matsumoto or one of the overexcited members in his squad with a grimace. The only person he'd be willing to go with was Karin and there was no way she would ever want to spend time with him. "If that happens I'd rather it be someone who's not too loud or excited."

Karin's heart instantly sank. 'Is he talking about me? I'm pretty over enthusiastic and loud when dealing with certain things.' Angry that Toshiro had crushed her hopes she responded in a similar manner to how he did. "Y-yeah. I think I might want to spend the festival alone too. It would be a bother to spend it with someone else."

Toshiro had not considered Karin as someone who would want to spend time with him in the first place but her comment still hurt. 'I should have guessed she wouldn't want to spend time with me. No, I did know, I just had a silly hope.' He looked at his paperwork in concentration but his mind was completely on the girl in front of him. He never was the most social so these sort of emotions were new. He almost wished they could just go back to when he was able to play soccer with her and not have any other feelings.

"Maybe I'll just stay with Ichi-nii during the festival. He might need some help."

"Yes, Kurosaki-"

"Don't call him that." Toshiro sighed and for the first time looked up. "I've told you, we all have. You're practically family, you can just call him Ichi-nii like all of us do."

"I'm debatably older."

"All that matters when considering a soul's age what stage of maturity they're at. You're at the same age as me on that front so just call him Ichi-nii."

Toshiro paused and sent Karin a 'I-can't-believe-you're-actually-making-me-do-this' expression before he continued his statement. "Yes… Ichi-nii will be extremely busy during the festival, it might be good for him to get some extra help."

Karin scowled when he said that for reasons he could not understand. In actuality, it was because she felt he was implying she should spend time with her brother rather than with him.

"Yeah… maybe I'll do that."

* * *

His paperwork finished much more quickly with Karin's help so Toshiro finally had some extra time. While he had always been sure to keep training he needed to work off some extra tension that had been building up and frustrations from whenever he was around Karin. It was always like he couldn't come out and say what he wanted to even when she was supposed to be his subordinate.

Opening the senkaimon to the world of the living he quickly sensed Ichigo and headed over to him.

Ichigo was standing with his back against a tree in silence, a frustrated expression on his face. While Toshiro knew Ichigo had the day off of work he could not sense the presence of anyone else nearby so he was confused why he was there.

"Kurosaki, why are you here?"

Ichigo turned to Toshiro, surprised for a second, then smirked. "I told you it's fine to call me Ichi-nii Toshiro."

"It's captain Hitsugaya-"

"You really should just give up on that. It's never going to happen." Ichigo paused as he looked back up at the sky. "To answer your question I've been feeling restless lately but can't figure out what I should do about it- none of the hollows around here are strong enough to take it out on."

"What a convenient coincidence," Turning in surprise to what Toshiro said Ichigo finally noticed the boy's reiatsu was fluctuating wildly. "I believe I've overworked myself slightly and needed to burn some energy. Would you like to spar?"

Ichigo's face lit up in happiness that surprised Toshiro, it was weird how he could communicate so many emotions while still having what resembled a scowl on his face.

"That'd be great! Leave it to you to over work yourself to the point where you need to do more work to burn it off. Most people don't do productive things 24/7."

"I have fun too." Toshiro rebutted as the two began shunpo-ing to an empty field. Once they landed Ichigo turned around with one eyebrow raised.

"Oh, really? And what's your idea of fun, paperwork?"

The slight blush that covered Toshiro's cheeks told Ichigo that Toshiro couldn't deny what he said but confused him when the blush became a bright scarlet.

"What? Thought of something fun?"

"It's nothing like that! I just… think it's fun when Karin makes me tea like she did this morning…" By this point Toshiro's entire body was covered in pink, easily standing out against his pale skin.

"I see, so that's how it is, how cute. And so? What's been going on between you to lately? I haven't seen either of you since we ran into each other at that lunch."

"There isn't anything going on between us! A… festival's coming up but it seems Karin doesn't want to spend time with someone so she'll be helping you and I'll be helping my squad with the fireworks, nothing more."

"Did she say that herself or did you put those words in?"

"We're about to start a fight, please don't get distracted Kurosaki." Toshiro took out Hyorinmaru and made it clear that the conversation was over. Ichigo shrugged but took out Zangetsu as well, making a promise to himself to find out more later.

Both opponents readied themselves and dropped into their stances, the familiar feeling of a fight sinking in.

"No sword releases, kido or powers other than soul reaper, correct?" Toshiro checked, Hyorinmaru as excited for the battle as he was.

"Yeah, you releasing your sword would have news here for weeks trying to figure out why there was a sudden blizzard in the middle of July. Those other things would cause too much attention to be directed here after, we can't have Orihime fix the whole mountain."

Another pause as the fighters studied each other, then they attacked.

* * *

An hour of zanjutsu and hakuda passed, both opponents completely focused on their goal. The sun was beginning to set when they stopped, leaning back on trees as they caught their breath.

"That was nice." Toshiro looked over at Ichigo who looked strangely satisfied with how the battle went. "And? I heard Matsumoto's getting your help with the festival whether you want to or not."

"...Yes, it seems she wants me to help design the fireworks and handle the paperwork for her before the festival. It's in your honor though so you might be the most busy."

"Only on the actual night itself, I don't have anything to do on the days leading up to it." Ichigo wiped some sweat off his forehead and sent Toshiro an annoying pleading look.

Toshiro sighed but looked the air around him as requested.

"Thank you world's most powerful air conditioner." The air in that spot suddenly froze and the temperature continued to drop. "Sorry, sorry. Jeez, you have no idea how to act the human age you're parallel to unless Karin drags you out for soccer."

"I have obligations. I can't act my apparent age when I have a whole squad to look after and the Gotei thirteen would probably burn itself to the ground if Captains Soi-fon, Kuchiki and myself weren't present."

"I can't exactly say that's false. By the way, are you going to ask Karin to spend the fireworks show with you? I hear it's going to be a romanticly based event." Toshiro could feel his cheeks heat up so he quickly cooled his body down but not before Ichigo saw him blush.

"Do… do you know if she already has plans?"

"You haven't tried to ask her?"

"I have but… it's a bit hard. I think we might have been misunderstanding each other so I'd like to try asking again." The ground was very interesting to Toshiro as he began counting the blades of grass he could see.

"Want to come to my house? Dad's coming to visit and I'm nowhere near as much of an overexcited idiot in this field as him. Orihime would probably be the best person for you to talk to though."

"Captains Shiba's going to be there?"

"I keep forgetting you used to be his third seat. Yeah, he's going to be there. And now that I think about it when's the last time you had a meal someone else made?"

"This morning. Karin made me some tea."

"Tea doesn't count. I don't care what you say you're coming over for dinner." Toshiro gave a few annoyed and shocked sputters at his free choice being stripped away from him and had no choice but to consent.

"Orihime, I'm back! I've brought Toshiro too!" As they entered the house Orihime came running out and saw their guest. Giving a pleasant smile she welcomed him in.

"Hi there Toshiro. If you're here I guess you must have something bothering you, right? Want to talk to me about it? After all, I'm our conveniently placed wise support-giving character." Orihime paused for a second in thought. "I guess right now Ichigo's not the protagonist so I can't call myself the protagonist's main love interest. Anyways, would you like to talk?"

"It's not really anything all that important." Toshiro tried but instantly saw that Ichigo and Orihime Kurosaki didn't believe him. "I'm just… trying to go to the festival with Karin… or something."

"Of course that's important! It's the main conflict in this arc of the story!" Orihime's words confused Toshiro but he was both glad and terrified she understood how important this was to him.

"So what's the problem Toshiro?" Ichigo jumped in, sitting next to his wife on the couch.

"I want to know if you think Karin would like to spend some of the festival with me." Ichigo and Orihime looked at each other for a second then back at Toshiro and burst out laughing.

"What?!" Toshiro snapped and was further annoyed when the laughing showed no signs of stopping. The temperature of the room quickly sank and ice began forming on the windows of the house.

"Woah, calm down Toshiro-"

"Captain Hitsugaya."

" _Toshiro_. Trust me, your worries are completely pointless, Karin would love going to the festival with you. It's pretty obvious so just go ask her."

Toshiro glared having privately hoped that Ichigo would give him a reason to not try and ask. Orihime looked like she thought he was an amusing child and made Toshiro slightly uncomfortable.

"I'm amazed that the common protagonist's obliviousness to anything romantic is even true here. I would have thought the author would be more talented than having to resort to something like this for an internal conflict. Maybe they're out of ideas?" (Sorry Orihime, you're totally spot on)

Ichigo shook his head and smiled. "I promise, it will all be fine. Just take the first step, I'm sure you can do that oh so brave captain."

Toshiro's retort was cut off by the ringing of the bell. Ichigo carefully opened the door and swiftly dodged as Isshin sent an over enthusiastic flying kick through.

Having missed his target he lost his landing and fell on the floor in front of Toshiro who shook his head at the sight.

"Toshiro! My second son!" Annoyingly, Isshin decided that the correct course of action in that situation was to pick up Toshiro and run around with him in the air.

Orihime and Ichigo once again couldn't stop laughing at their friend's situation. Isshin began swinging Toshiro around as he spun in joy. Toshiro was unable to do anything to escape as Isshin was gripping him tightly. After several seconds Isshin began throwing him into the air and catching him- curse his small body.

"Put. Me. Down." Toshiro's voice changed to the one he used on subordinates and made Isshin pause long enough for Toshiro to escape. While it never worked on any of the Kurosaki's it could pause them long enough for him to escape.

Putting him down let Toshiro take in a breath and look back at the people behind them. Honestly, they were all (including himself) crazy powerful idiots who got along. Just add in Karin and he could already imagine them being a big family.

* * *

Oh my god I love abridged Orihime. She's hilarious! Sorry if you ship Ichiruki but abridged Orihime is one of my favorite female characters ever! It you haven't seen Bleach (S) abridged then you should watch it (they're awesome) but I can also give you one line from her when she and Uryu are invading Souls Society that I love:

O: This is too easy.

U: Indeed, we have been fortunate.

O: No no no no no! We're supporting cast. We're supposed to numb into a big deal and beat them through sheer force of effort to show how hard the main character's journey is.

Mayuri comes*

O: Yay! A captain! I mean… oh no… a captain.

Later-

U: And all that cost me was all of my Quincy powers… forever.

O: Ssssssssssacrifice

This chapter I added more HitsuKarin and set up for the festival. I also wanted to show how Toshiro would act in that family, I mean he already seems like a brother to Ichigo and was practically Isshin's son as his third seat. I personally think he would fit right in with his power flash freezing the area every time he got mad and also being the voice of reason in most situations. Seriously, he even is a super powerful prodigy who is the youngest to ever become a captain: that fits right in with the Kurosaki family's crazy power and ability to succeed. So I decided to add a bit of what he might be like in their family. I'm not sure if I showed Toshiro right. Some people make him more emotionless but he does show emotion and can become angry at people- he's a mature kid, not an adult. A kid who's new to these sorts of feelings of love. Please tell me if you think I should change him but I'm pretty happy with how he turned out. Hope you all enjoyed the story.


	6. Chapter 6

"Alright everyone, are you ready? This will be one of the most important missions of our existence, but it is also very dangerous. If any of you want to back out of melting the ice and paperwork demon you won't be held responsible." Lieutenant Matsumoto's words resounded over the female Shinigami surrounding her, causing them to look at each other in curiosity. After a brief second of confirming with each other everyone present nodded.

"We won't back out now!"

Matsumoto gave a proud smirk and prepared. "If you're sure then we'll begin. It's finally time… to get Captain to ask Karin to the festival!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Several members of both the Shinigami women's association and the female members of the tenth division smirked. Their plan was perfect, all they needed to do was get the couple alone for a while and give Captain Hitsugaya both enough hints and motivation to finally ask her.

In order to avoid giving their plan away the group was only comprised of 10 people who, other than Matsumoto, were not particularly close to either Karin or Captain Hitsugaya.

The group of women split up to separate directions with their orders, prepared to sacrifice their very souls to succeed.

"Captain~ I have something to tell you~," Matsumoto sang as she slowly opened the division door.

Toshiro looked up at Rangiku Matsumoto in slight annoyance then shifted his gaze back to his paperwork. "What do you want now Matsumoto?"

"Yeah see, I-may-have-been-trying-to-improve-the-fireworks-for-the-festival-and-ended-up-catching-the-nearby-forest-on-fire-please-help-thanks-bye."

Shunpo gave the lieutenant the means for a quick escape before Toshiro completely registered her words. She knew the exact moment when he understood what she said because of the angry yell that could be heard outside of the division.

The fire was- of course- a complete lie. But how else was she going to get her captain alone with Karin? It may cause some unnecessary trouble and paperwork but it was all for a justifiable and deadly important cause so it would have to be overlooked.

Joining up with the others in her group Matsumoto saw that they had all gathered the materials they needed to help so all she had to do was find Karin.

"Anyone know where she is? She wasn't helping the Captain." Several murmurs of no went through the group as everyone looked between each other. Finally, one member raised her hand with an excited expression.

"Oh, I think I saw her heading back from her brother's division a little while ago. She wasn't using shunpo when I passed her so she should still be on the way."

"Great, I'll go get her, you guys just get into your positions." Her command was once again met with confirmation as the others turned to the forest. Matsumoto broke into a quick shunpo that left her barely enough time to pay attention to her surroundings. Several brief seconds later she felt the young (by Shinigami standards) girl's reiatsu nearing the division and turned to join up with her.

"Hey, Karin!"

A slight jump showed that Karin had been completely lost in thought. While not her specialty she was still good enough at sensing reiatsu to have noticed Matsumoto had she been paying attention.

"Hey Matsumoto, what's up? I was just on my way back to the division-"

"There's no time for that!" Karin jumped again at her lieutenant's frantic attitude but was still slightly tired. Turns out wondering how to go to a fireworks festival with a boy you like took a lot of thought. "The forest is on fire! Me and the other's in the Shinigami Women's association were trying a few things out and we messed up so Captain's going to help us fix it but we still need help!"

"Got it, I'll be on my way." Karin nodded to her superior before disappearing at full speed and Matsumoto's face lost the frantic emotions behind it. There, that should start to put fireworks into the minds of the two lovebirds. Or would it be something like love dragons? Ice dragons?

Who cares.

She hoped the others would be finished with their roles in the plan. At the very least they should be in the forest before the couple got there.

* * *

Hitsugaya considerably slowed his blinding pace when he reached the forest, determined not to miss the disaster. As attentive as ever he used his zanpakuto's abilities to read the temperature of the nearby area and search for anywhere that was considerably higher. The fact that night was coming and the air was becoming cooler helped.

A blob of heat suddenly appeared near him and a half second later the reiatsu signature registered in his brain as to who it was.

"Karin."

"Toshiro, Lieutenant Matsumoto said there was a fire made by the Shinigami women's association, I came to help." Toshiro nodded in understanding and allowed the strategic power of his mind decide how she would be most effective.

"Go in the opposite direction from me but stay in the forest. We'll circle around and spiral so we can meet in the center. Flare you reiatsu if you see anything that looks suspicious or like it has to do with the firework."

"Suspicious?"

"I'm not sure I completely believe that they were playing around with fireworks. Something about Matsumoto's attitude looked a little forced and over the top to me."

"Gotcha, later Toshiro." Karin smiled at her crush's brief flash of irritation before she disappeared in the other direction from where he had been walking. The captain hesitated for half a second trying to decipher her expression before he gave up and continued on his search.

The evening night sky was romantic in a way- at least according to Matsumoto. Toshiro vaguely remembered her telling him that around when he first got promoted to captain. He hadn't understood what she meant at the time but as he looked at it now all he could think about was staring up at it together with Karin.

No, it wasn't the time. He had a job to do, he needed to cram all thoughts of her away like he always did when she was around his work.

The walk was uneventful, there was nothing to see in the forest he didn't already know about. Other than the occasional movement of birds in the trees he didn't notice any other signs of life or movement. He wasn't able to detect any irregular signs of heat either despite Matsumoto's claim of a fire so huge he needed to help.

Annoyed at his lack of progress he was about to try and find Matsumoto for her to give them more exact directions when he suddenly felt Karin's spiritual pressure spike.

Remembering the signal to contact each other was abandoned in favor of a burst of fear at her situation. Leaving his path Toshiro moved as fast as he could to where Karin was and caught up with her as she stared at the sky. Not seeing any irregular signs of heat left Toshiro confused for a second as he looked around for danger.

"Not there." Karin interjected, confusing him further. She pointed at a random spot in the sky until Toshiro's eyes followed the direction her hand was pointing. In the darkening sky there weren't even any clouds so the ice captain remained confused as to what she was gesturing to until he heard an explosion.

A firework went off and exploded in the general direction Karin pointed to, a flash of purple-white sparkles.

Both shinigami made eye contact for a half second and moved to where the 'fire' they had been looking for was coming from. They landed near the area as Toshiro suddenly pulled Karin back, stopping her in her path.

"What?"

"Remember what I said about looking for something suspicious? Before we go to valiantly rescue them like the hero's in the stories you brought let's make sure there's an actual emergency." Karin nodded at Toshiro's paranoid orders but gave him a mocking smile he raised an eyebrow to.

"What?"

"You don't have much trust in your lieutenant, do you? You're supposed to trust your subordinates more, Shiro~"

"Nothing to worry about. I do trust her, but I also know her well enough to know this is the kind of thing she would do. I don't trust her words in this kind of situation."

"I know, so then. Shall we go and see what kind of evil plan these rebels have made for us?"

"Of course."

Hiding their reiatsu (Mostly Toshiro, he had the most and was also helping Karin keep her's down) the pair moved like predators after their prey. Looking down from behind several tree branches they saw exactly what they were expecting.

"Hey, how long should we do this for?" A female shinigami from the tenth division whispered to a girl standing across from her.

"Until your captain and third seat Kurosaki come here but make sure to put space between each fire. We don't want to run out before they get here and are able to declare their undying love for each other!" The two watching in the trees blushed and were glad no one could see them in their current state.

"Alright tiger, we can aim for that eventually but for now let's just try to get the captain to ask her to the festival." A member of the twelfth division whispered from another firework's launch pad. "I think it'll take a few more events before they can do something like that."

"I know." The second girl responded with a depressed sigh. "Honestly, what's wrong with them? We even have them highest on our 'should become a couple' survey. They would be so cute."

Toshiro looked at Karin in shock. "The Shinigami Women's association has that as a list?" He whispered across, then hesitated at her equally shocked expression.

"They never told me anything about this."

"Something that we'll have to change." Toshiro declared as he moved to the edge of the branch they were standing on. "Shall we go get our explanation?"

Karin nodded and the two of them disappeared in a flit of shunpo only to reappear in front of the other shinigami.

Toshiro sent them an ice cold smile as he asked with a polite tone, "So what was this about making us declare our undying love for each other because of a 'should become a couple' survey?"

All the shinigami present other than Karin paled considerably at his expression and then flinched at the sadistic look in Karin's.

"Um, uh. See we were-" The first shinigami began to explain while taking slight cautious steps back until she was next to the firework. One step, two.

"Kyaa!" A misplaced firework was easy to trip over in the dark and the lighter in the girl's hand was pressed on as she fell back next to the largest firework.

BOOM*

The firework lit and the other shinigami tried to help her only to get pulled up by the string attached to the end.

They neared the sky and although they all knew it couldn't kill them the fall would still hurt. Toshiro reached around and grabbed Karin, shielding her from the coming explosion.

The explosion sent every shinigami in a different direction with the exception of Toshiro and Karin.

They landed on a spiky tree and slipped down to the hard ground.

"You okay Karin?" Toshiro breathed out, the wind having been knocked out of him. Karin blinked once and realized she was laying on top of Toshiro.

Jumping up she leaned back and blushed. "Yeah, totally fine! You?"

"Been better. It shouldn't have any noticeable effect on my combat ability though."

Karin nodded in relief then smiled. "Of course that's the first thing you consider. As expected of a captain."

"Ha, ha. Still, that firework was annoying. It was protected with kido so there was nothing I could do to the fuse while we were being pulled up by it."

"Really? Guess that surprised you too, huh."

"Shut up." Toshiro glared at her but she- as always- laughed it off. She stopped when Toshiro's face shifted into a serious expression as he looked around. "Any idea where we are?"

Karin copied his action but frowned. "No, we all blasted into different directions and the whole forest looks the same at night."

Toshiro nodded in agreement as he turned to watch the last bit of sun set. "It seems we'll need to spend the night here."

"Like a mission." "Like camping!"

Toshiro turned to Karin who just sighed at his comparison of their situation to a mission.

"No, it's like camping. I promise you this is going to be nothing like one of those boring overnight missions that generate mountains of paperwork."

A sigh, "If you say so."

* * *

"And? What are you doing?" Toshiro's curiosity was the result of having little to no knowledge of camping in the world of the living.

Karin looked up from the fire she was making to her friend. "Oh, did you already finish the tent?" A quick glance over to where their shelter was and she glared, "Toshiro! I told you to use the leaves to make a tent, not to create something that camouflaged into the environment!"

"It's more efficient and I don't need anything to keep me warm. We can use kido to warm you up so there's no need for the kind of design you want we should go for being as safe as possible so we don't get woken up. Which brings me to another question, why are you making a campfire?"

"It's fine, isn't it? We can light the fire with kido like you said." Karin continued setting logs in place and ignoring Toshiro's disbelieving look.

"We don't need it. Why do you refuse to listen to my instructions, there's nothing we need that for. You can be so endearingly rebellious sometimes." Karin paused in her work at his words, wondering if she misheard.

"What… did you say?"

Toshiro looked at her in confusion until he replayed what he had just said in his head and blushed. Taking a deep breath he forced his feelings down and responded.

"I said we don't need it and that you can be rebellious."

'So I did just mishear him.' Karin frowned at the belief that she cared about his enough to start hearing things. Continuing on her work Karin made an effort to ignore Toshiro's words and make a campfire.

Grabbing a few dead branches from the forest she used the little kido she knew to completely dry them off and arranged them in a pile. Surrounding the pile with rocks she also picked up several logs and moved them to surround the stick pile in positions that resembled seats.

"Alright, why are we making a fire?" Toshiro finally gave in, asking for further information at the odd setup Karin was making with sticks. His lack of knowledge about modern human customs made him adorable in Karin's mind.

"Obviously it's because we're on a camping trip. I have some marshmallows for us to use too!" At her declaration she reached into her kimono and pulled out a sealed pack of while, puffy and sugary marshmallows.

"...Really?"

"Yup. I got them at the market, it turns out the Shinigami Women's Association went to the world of the living a while ago and tried out a bunch of food to see what they wanted to take back with them." As she thought that over she remembered how Matsumoto tried to buy a much of cosmetics and other things she found that weren't food until they were soundly rejected by the lieutenant of the eighth division.

"I'm going to go make sure the defensive kido I put on the 'tent' is still stable then. Have fun with your marshmallows." Just as Toshiro began to walk he felt a tug on his arm and stopped.

"No, I am going to teach you how to have fun if it's the last thing I do!"

"It's really not necessary-"

"Of course it is!" Karin began pulling Toshiro back to a log she laid out next to the fire. "I will not have my boyfriend me a stick in the mud who has no idea how to have fun!"

"I'm sorry?"

In reverse of the same situation this time, Karin realized she had said something she hadn't meant to and blushed. Covering it up she quickly thought of something to say instead of the word 'boyfriend'.

"I said I won't allow myself to have a captain who doesn't know how to have fun."

Toshiro, slightly more distrustful than Karin, didn't entirely believe her explanation but greatly preferred this one over what he thought he heard so he accepted it.

"I see, you're going to have your work cut out for you though. I won't make this easy." Karin simply smiled at him with a cocky edge to it as if to say 'you honestly think you're going to be able to beat me?'

The ice captain smiled back as if to say 'we'll just have to wait and see, maybe I will.' Both paused for a moment and made eye contact, then burst out laughing. Karin's was loud and free in comparison to Toshiro contained amusement but nothing changed the fact that both of them could finally relax.

* * *

"How long until you're ready?" Karin whined as Hitsugaya glared.

"Karin, this would go a lot faster if you agreed to help me." He paused in his work as he heard her hum in consideration.

"No, I think that'd we really boring. If you don't want me to help you then I refuse to do any work."

"What do you mean by 'if I don't want you to help me'?"

Karin turned her head so she was facing her superior and his work. Currently he was working on putting leaves on slicks to create a makeshift roof due to a storm he felt incoming.

"Just what I said, I won't help you if you don't plead for it." Toshiro rolled her eyes at the declaration but was completely unaware of the blush on Karin's cheeks. She was still grumpy for accidentally calling Toshiro her boyfriend earlier and was taking it out on him to ease her emotions.

Nevertheless she was extremely, extremely, very, supremacy, impossibly and any other similar adjective you could think of bored. There was nothing for her to do other than lay back and watch the stars that were quickly being covered by a gloomy cloud but if she started helping her pride would be shattered.

While Toshiro was completely unaware of the reason behind it he at least know she was conflicted about her emotions. Hesitating a second he called upon the experience he gained from his years as captain to go through with his decision.

"Please help me Kurosa… Karin." Immediately Karin turned around to stare at him in disbelief while he turned away from her so she wouldn't be able to see the blush now dusting his pale skin.

"W-what?"

"You said nothing about asking twice. Will you help or not?"

Karin smiled and jumped up from the log she was laying on, moving to help him on the roof.

"Fine but on one condition. You need to participate in a marshmallow eating game when we're done!"

"... If you say so." Karin jumped up and hugged Toshiro from behind, surprising him enough that he stumbled and almost fell forward.

"Oh, did a lowly third seat like me catch such an honorable captain of the thirteen court guard squads?"

The glare Toshiro gave her was cold enough to freeze a bonfire but Karin's happiness left her immune for the moment.

"Not a chance."

"Whatever you say~"

For several minutes the pair worked in a comfortable silence until they finished their creation (or base as Karin called it). It was just in time as a light sprinkle began falling from the heavens Hyorinmaru ruled over.

Hitsugaya sat down on one of the logs and watched in slight fascination as Karin taught him the 'proper way to toast marshmallows you poor ignorant child'. The child comment got her a glare but she thought it was completely worth it.

"You do know I don't like heat, right?"

"I know but please make an exception this time. These taste amazing and are totally worth it, even to a weirdo who doesn't worship sweets like you."

Karin pulled one off the stick and gestured for Toshiro to take it. Popping it in his mouth Toshiro gave a surprised twitch of his reiatsu at the texture. It instantly cooled when it entered his mouth but he was still allowed the full marshmallow experience.

"Good, it seems the ice captain liked it. Maybe it's because they're the same color as his hair." Karin teased before eating a marshmallow herself.

"Oh, these are really good." Toshiro nodded and they sat in silence, giving both of them time to think.

Karin went over all her failures of asking Toshiro to join her at the festival. Maybe he just wasn't interested in going with her. Quickly she began losing hope at being able to spend the evening with him and started sinking into despair.

Toshiro, on the other hand, went over all the interactions he had with Karin that just seemed a little off. The slight blush he sometimes thought he found covering her face and the 'boyfriend' comment stood out the most.

As a captain it was his job to keep watch over all his subordinates but for once he had absolutely no idea why she was acting this way. Normally he was able to find the problems his squad members faced in the blink of an eye.

A memory entered his mind. One where he and Karin went to a fair to 'get him away from paperwork' and ended up having the most fun he had in weeks. He wanted to spend time with her- liked spending time with her.

He was a captain of the thirteen court guard squads. He knew better than almost anyone he wouldn't get anything done unless he took the first step.

Karin, having long finished her marshmallow, was sitting on the log and leaning back to watch the cool rain drops slipping down the leaves like jewels.

"Kur.. Karin." She turned over to find her captain looking at her with a slightly hesitant expression. He took a deep breath and made eye contact with her, having made some decision that strengthened his resolve. "Would you like to spend the firework portion of the upcoming festival with me?"

Karin's eyes widened and she jumped out of her seat. Her usual cross, grumpy attitude was completely gone at the offer and she gave an enthusiastic smile.

"Yes!"

Breaking into a run she hugged him but the force from her knocked both of them down so that she had fallen on top of him.

The rain stopped.

The first thought that crossed Karin's mind was 'oh my god he smells like mint, how is that even possible?' In the silence both of them became very, very aware of how close they were to each other until Karin stood up and looked out.

"Um… well, do you want to play soccer as we try to figure out where we are and find our way back? I mean the rain stopped."

"Do you have a soccer ball with you?" Toshiro responded, also not meeting her eyes. "If not we can try to use a rock."

Smiling, Karin ran to pick it up then turned around to answer. "That seems good."

Yeah, they were fine like this. The weird emotions running through them had made all off their encounters for the last week or so really awkward and almost made them forget why they liked spending time with each other.

Turning into a run the couple kicked the ball back and forth until they found an area of the forest they recognized and went back to the division, both much happier than when they entered the forest.

End of Part 1


	7. Chapter 7

"Welcome back, Captain! I heard you yelled at the people who were working on the fireworks for half an hour once you found them. Sorry I happened to confuse fireworks with a fire but you can understand my mistake." Matsumoto smiled, annoying Toshiro as he sent her a raised eyebrow and tired look.

"Yes, very understandably Matsumoto. Though I certainly hope we won't be getting a repeat of the event anytime soon." Glaring as his lieutenant looked off, not meeting his eyes Toshiro also noticed she seemed overly excited about something.

"What?"

Rangiku looked back at him and, through their years of working together, instantly knew he was asking if she was alright. A good captain always watches out for the well being of his subordinates, or that's what he always said when she teased him about it.

"So…" as she started she quickly tried to think of a way to get the information subtly before deciding it just wasn't how she got information. Instead she looked his young captain strait in the eyes and bluntly asked, "Did anything happen between you and Karin while you were stuck in the woods together?"

Toshiro reacted in a flash, like he had burned his hand of something. Jumping back his cheeks heated up and completely gave him away.

A second's pause and he calmed down, glaring at her and fighting to control his emotions. "Nothing sexual or inappropriate if that's what you're suggesting with your question. We still have a professional relationship despite your best efforts."

Matsumoto sank to her knees in disappointment, then remembered how odd his reaction was. "Then why did you leap back so suddenly? Usually you just glare when I suggest something like that, is it because you still haven't been able to find a way to use your time during the festival?"

Toshiro blushed again and made Rangiku smile. Her captain only showed his emotions when he was around people he trusted. While to everyone else he remained cold and near-emotionless to his friends he more closely resembled the kid he was.

"I… no, that's not it." This time it was Toshiro who couldn't meet Matsumoto's eyes as he stared at the ground in embarrassment. "We may still have a professional relationship but I was able to ask Third Seat Kuro… Karin to join me during the fireworks portion of the festival…"

Matsumoto smiled a smile she usually reserved for when she was given top tier sake, jumping up in excitement and almost spilling ink on the paperwork Toshiro had on his desk.

"Careful Matsumoto!" Toshiro scolded as he protected the papers. Turning to yell at her more he was shocked when he felt himself being lifted up and hugged.

"You did it! You two are actually going together! It's only a small step but we've crossed another boundary, I'm so proud of you Captain!" Finally, she put him down and began running around the room, making plans to tell all of her friends the important news. "I knew my plan would succeed. I told Nanao but she didn't believe me and it actually worked!"

"Please stop Matsumoto. I'm glad you're happy but you're going to end up ruining some of the paperwork if you continue carelessly running around like you are now."

"You don't have to be so uptight, Captain. Besides, this is a huge announcement! We may have to get the seventh division to write about it in an article-"

She suddenly cut off as she felt the room becoming almost impossibly cold. Hesitantly, she turned around and saw exactly what she feared.

"Captain?"

"Matsumoto." Despite the low volume of his voice Hitsugaya's words echoed around the entire room, the cold tone further decreasing the temperature. The dangerous glow in his eyes did nothing to calm her fears and the rare smirk that grew on his lips doubled them. "If I so much as see a single word that could be a reference to what happened between me and Karin in the news Soul Society won't see summer for the next thirty years. Am I clear, lieutenant?"

"Y-yes sir."

Toshiro calmed down, letting the room return to it's normal, already chilly, temperature. As he looked up at Matsumoto he hesitated in confusion when she suddenly smirked.

"But I can tell my friends?"

"I, you can't…" a pause allowed Toshiro to consider how impossible his desire was and caused him to sigh. "I don't want anyone to breath a word about it to me. Make sure that if you do tell someone they are smart enough not to bring it up with either me or Karin before the festival. There's no way people won't be talking about it once we're seen together."

"Gotcha Captain, will do! Not one word!" Giving a slightly mocking salute Matsumoto left the captain to his paperwork and emotions while she went to fulfil her job as queen of the Seireitei rumor mill.

The next few days blinked by like a film at double speed with all the work the Shinigami had to do. Apparently festivals required hours of work and generated even more paperwork than long term missions. Nearly every captain gave some of their paperwork regarding the festival to the ice captain on excuses like, 'I have better things to do' (Kurotsuchi) and 'You're already doing his, why don't you just do some of mine too' (Kyoraku).

Swamped and almost suffocating in paperwork led to even the workaholic captain to feel relieved when he was finished. Finally able to put down the pen he was using and leaning back to stretch the captain mentally ran through anything else he might have to do for the festival.

Deciding there was nothing to do he stood up and blinked in surprise as Karin suddenly opened the door.

The two hadn't seen each other since the 'camping trip' and the tension between them made standing together slightly awkward- even if less than before.

"Hi, Shiro. I was wondering if you wanted to leave for the festival early so we can make sure everything's going okay. If you still have work I can help you finish."

"No, I actually just completed it. It sounds fun to… spend some time together." Karin nodded and ran up to grab Toshiro's arm. Not wanting him to escape her for more paperwork she began dragging him to the festival whether he wanted to go or not.

"I don't suppose you could let me go?"

"No, I refuse to have you just suddenly remember more work you'd like to finish and turning around."

"Fine, you don't need to grab my arm though." Toshiro's comment was followed by him sliding his arm down and grabbing her hand to which she blushed.

"Ready?"

Karin looked forward to the small lights of the festival in the distance. "Defiantly."

* * *

Toshiro scowled slightly as yet another unseated soul reaper bowed to him in respect. He liked when people showed actual respect to him for his position as captain instead of treating him like a kid. The only problem was that some of the reapers and nobles at the festival (especially the younger souls) idolized him for his quick ascension through the ranks and wanted to shake his hand.

"With a scowl like that you're going to fit right into the family." Karin joked, fully aware of what she was saying could imply. Despite the slight blush on her cheeks she found she was much more comfortable giving almost-jokes like this since the 'camping trip'.

Toshiro was the exact opposite for one very specific reason. He wanted to finally ask her to become his girlfriend.

He had thought it all through and found no problems with the idea- as soon as he was able to actually ask her. He didn't even fear that she would refuse as they had known each other for so long and after the camping trip he was fairly certain their feelings were mutual.

The only problem with the plan was him. He was used to hiding his emotions and not letting anyone see what he was actually like. The Kurosaki family was disturbingly good at getting him to show emotion but this was something on a level completely foreign to him. Momo and Rangiku he was able to talk to easily, but Karin was something more. He could talk to Momo because she was practically his sister. He could talk to Rangiku because he felt comfortable addressing a subordinate. He did not know the first thing about how to tell someone he liked them romantically.

Even just asking her to join him at the festival had taken all his energy, giving him the distinct impression he had been out of him comfort zone.

Like, a mile out.

He knew he had to ask her eventually if he ever wanted anything to happen, the only problem was him. Even for someone so used to surpassing his own limitations this seemed to be an impossible goal.

Karin grabbed his arm as she pointed to a crepe stand with an enthusiastic grin. Toshiro blinked once then stared at her smile. 'Right,' he thought, 'more than anything else I want to be able to spend time with her.'

The two of them each got their own crepe- Toshiro's was sugar and sweetened cream cheese while Karin's had strawberry syrup and chocolate sauce. Both smiled as they took a bite (Toshiro smiled at Karin's happy expression, not being a fan of sweet things himself).

"These are based off something your brother brought from the world of the living, right?" Toshiro checked as he took another bite of the treat.

"Yeah, apparently Orihime wanted to try making some but because of what she wanted to put inside it Ichi-nii decided to buy her some instead. Some Shinigami heard the conversation and decided to come along then decided they loved these." As Karin finished her explanation she pointed to the dessert still in her hand.

"I see, that makes sense." Karin nodded and bit into her crepe, spilling a bit of the content on her cheek.

"Really? God you're helpless sometime." Toshiro shook his head and reached his hand up to wipe some of the sugary content away. Not wanting to lose her rare treat Karin grabbed his hand and licked the cream off.

"You two are such a cute couple!" The blush covering both their faces increased as someone made that embarrassing statement. Both instantly turned in the direction of the voice and saw an old woman running a jeweler shop smiling at them.

"We're not yet… I mean, we're not-" Karin began to protest but only succeeded in making them both more embarrassed with her slip of the tongue.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you're not." The woman continued to smile as she held up several of the jewels she was selling. "Would you two like to try some?"

Karin hurried to shake her head. "Sorry ma'am, we can't pay for something like that." The slight disappointed frown on her face made Toshiro's decision.

"I could." Karin turned to him in surprise and he continued. "Captain's have a large salary, especially because I don't have much to spend it on. It wouldn't be too hard for me to buy us some."

Karin hesitated, not one for jewelry in the first place. As she made a quick glance over the available merchandise, however, she stopped.

"That one!" She yelled, pointing to a pair of necklaces. The chord was a string of small, white jewels next to silver beads with a center charm made of turquoise. The turquoise was, ironically enough, shaped after the tenth division daffodil- just small enough to fit in the palm of Karin's hand.

Toshiro nodded and bought two of the present, handing one to Karin while slipping the other on himself.

They began walking through the festival again and Karin sent Toshiro one of her rare, genuine smiles.

"Doesn't this remind you of the trip to the fair we did a while ago?" Toshiro thought over her question and nodded, though to him it was a complete different experience. As it turned out it was much more difficult to be comfortable around someone when you were trying to decide how to ask them to be your girlfriend.

"Karin, Captain?" At their respective name and title being called the pair turned around to see Kanna standing behind them, cotton candy in her hand.

"Kanna!" Karin smile and bounced over, instantly striking up conversation with the other girl. Toshiro gave a slight sigh and turned away, not noticing the brief flashes of concern that crossed his squad member's face as she looked between him and Karin.

"What were you two doing together, out on a date?" Kanna asked the question teasingly, but this time Toshiro noticed how she seemed to be forcing herself. It was a bit similar to what he did, guarding himself with a calm front.

Karin quickly denied the date part of the question by teasing back, asking if she had no one who she wanted to spend the festival with.

"Oh, I'm not all that interested in festivals. I'll just be staying for a little while, I have better things to do than pointlessly play around and interact with others… or something like that."

"Yikes, why do I always befriend you overly serious people. I think when you're not teasing us you are the grand central station of boring, maybe even trying with Shiro here." Toshiro bristled slightly at Karin's comment but turned his eyes back to Kanna. 'I have better things to do than pointlessly play around and interact with others' could be interpreted in two ways. It could just be that the idea was an annoyance to the girl and not something she wanted to spend her time doing.

Normally that would be what Toshiro would assume but there was also the fact that Kanna had a few things that didn't completely add up about her. Another way her sentence could be heard was 'I have something I need to be doing and see no point in interacting more than necessary.'

Karin's laughter broke him out of his thoughts and he shook his head. He was most likely over thinking things, he would just need to be careful.

* * *

"Okay everyone, are you all ready?" Matsumoto turned and looked back at her loyal soldiers, Isshin, Orihime and Ichigo Kurosaki along with Captain Commander Kyoraku.

If someone saw them they might wonder what kind of mission would require so many of the strongest beings in existence. The answer was quite simple.

They needed to get Karin and Toshiro together!

It was a dangerous mission but one they were willing to risk their lives on… or at least risk being stuck in a blizzard for the next few days.

It was quite obvious Toshiro was ready to ask Karin, he just needed a little extra push- one the members of the get-strawberry's-sister-and-the-popsicle-together organization were more than happy to give.

Ichigo had originally be opposed to the idea. Isshin had started crying to a picture of Masaki about his daughter growing up so fast and Ichigo had nearly destroyed everyone in the surrounding area with his reiatsu.

Luckily- or unfortunately- Isshin already considered Toshiro to be his son and Ichigo thought of him as his brother. After Matsumoto convinced Orihime of how good they would look together the Kurosaki men were forced to cave in.

Once they did it was easy for her to get them to join her team trying to pair her captain up with her third seat.

"Does everyone remember the plan?" Orihime checked before the group split off. Ichigo had to go be the center of attention for the festival and Orihime was going to stay with him.

Nods and 'yup's echoed around the group and Matsumoto smirked. They were going to be creating the perfect atmosphere for Toshiro. Ichigo and Orihime would make sure they were able to stay alone while she and Isshin watched over the two of them. The Captain Commander's job was to make sure no events went wrong and no one who had a grudge against the Shinigami was trying to destroy the festival.

The group split up, each going to their previously agreed upon stations. Ichigo wouldn't be able to help until later so it was just a matter of making sure nothing went wrong before then.

Smiling, Isshin and Matsumoto watched as the two bought matching necklaces and ran into Kanna. It was just like when Isshin was captain with Matsumoto acting like Toshiro's sister.

"What do you think we should do?" Matsumoto whispered from her hiding spot. Isshin considered the question for a moment before nodding at Matsumoto.

At his nod she jumped down from her hiding place and walked up to the group, acting like she had coincidently found them.

"Hi Captain, girls!"

"Matsumoto?" Toshiro snapped out of whatever he had been thinking about to look at her with confusion.

"I'm sorry, but I really need to borrow Kanna for a little while. I'll try to give her back later but I'll be taking her for now."

"Huh, but I'm-" Ignoring Kanna's stuttered refusal Matsumoto began dragging her along and left her captain behind.

Having long gotten used to this sort of thing Toshiro gave a resigned sigh. "Matsumoto, what are you doing."

Karin smirked at Toshiro's grumbled words, likewise used to hearing them. "Give her a break, it's a festival so you don't need crack down on her quite as hard. Not like it works in the first place."

"I guess you're right." Toshiro sent her a knowing smile while he fingered the new necklace on his chest. He was used to wearing scarves but this was a new experience. "There's still some time left before the fireworks show, what do you want to do?"

Leaning back slightly Karin thought for a second before her eyes lit up like a firecracker. "Oh, I know. We should try out one of the games!"

Giving her a slightly puzzled expression Toshiro voiced his confusion. "What would there be for us to do in the first place?"

The smirk Karin sent him did not bode well for his patience.

"I'll show you! It'll be a ton of fun I promise!"

Feeling himself being dragged similarly to how Kanna was moments before Toshiro was pulled to one of the games brought from the world of the living.

"And? Why are you so excited about this?"

A split second pause of astonishment was all the warning Toshiro had before he was met with a scandalized look. "You've never played one of these before?!"

Blinking, Toshiro was forced to shake his head in response. "No, I've always been busy and never seen the point to. If I want to do something fun you drag me out for soccer so I already have that taken care of."

Karin sent him a long suffering sigh that he twitched slightly at. "You are not supposed to consider fun something you need to take care of and check off whatever list you've got. It's just to enjoy yourself and you almost never play soccer in the first place."

Toshiro was forced to blink in confusion yet again and Karin suddenly smirked. "Alright then, I'll just have to show you how to have fun!"

She broke off into a sprint while not hearing or ignoring Toshiro's protest that he already knew how to have fun.

Matsumoto watched, hidden behind one of the stands and using one hand to cover Kanna's mouth. Once the almost-couple was out of sight she relaxed and lowered her hand to her side.

"So, care to explain what that was all about?" Kanna asked with a slightly annoyed look, more closely resembling the teasing side of her than her polite one.

"Can't!" Matsumoto instantly refused. "I'm afraid I was sworn to secrecy and my very existence would be forfeit if I gave the truth away."

Kanna sent a raised eyebrow and tilted her head. "Is that so? And what oh so dangerous deity would be able to destroy a death god who's a lieutenant of the thirteen court guard squads?"

Matsumoto leaned in and cupped a hand over her mouth to whisper. "The ever so dangerous tenth kami who has control over ice. If he knew what we were planning I'm pretty sure my entire team would be frozen in an icy hell for the next twenty years."

Catching the implied meaning Kanna nodded and decided she would most likely hear about it as soon as her captain found out.

"I see, I see. I'll be going then, you want me to leave him alone?"

"Yup, I'd be really happy if you tried to keep other people away too. My team's doing their best but there's only so much we can accomplish."

"Got it, lieutenant Matsumoto! Leave it to me, I will not fail you." Both girls laughed at each other and split up to enjoy the festival in their own ways.

* * *

Towards the middle of the festival the stalls became more tightly packed and active. Most notably was the huge crowd at the center of the festival where Ichigo Kurosaki was sitting with his wife, getting thanked by anyone who came to visit him.

There was no need for security guards. The two VIPs would survive anything anyone below a captain was able to stop and there were very few who could beat Ichigo in durability. Orihime's healing ability also made the needs for any kind of guards obsolete.

What all the people coming to meet with Ichigo didn't know was that he was actively trying to attract as much attention as possible this time. Orihime's plan was simple, if everyone came to see them there would be less people who could ruin Toshiro and Karin's time together.

Ichigo had been unsure about whether the plan was working until he saw the two entering the busier part of the area walking side by side. Karin's face was covered in a mix between a smile and a smirk while Toshiro had a small (but for him huge) smile on his face.

Upon seeing that Ichigo and Orihime made eye contact and gave each other a thumbs up.

Lights danced around the area and continued to distract Toshiro as he walked. Why was it so hard to just get to a game Karin wanted to play?

It also didn't help him that the necklace he and Karin bought practically glowed in the light, attracting his attention.

Karin was thinking similarly. While she was also enjoying herself by guessing what stands the people in front of her would go to next her mind kept being distracted by the same thought.

'He looks really good in this lighting.'

Her stubborn pride refused to allow her to blush but it was becoming increasingly difficult with the rare smile on his face.

Usually he was one of the most serious captains but that didn't mean he could never enjoy himself. When he was truly happy like this it turned out that he did smile.

A pair of kids ran by them, having the physical appearance of being around five or six (you could never tell with souls). Seeing them, Karin was suddenly reminded of when she and Toshiro would play soccer together in the world of the living.

Seeing her gaze Toshiro realized they were having similar thoughts and spoke up. "I was never as energetic playing with you as them."

Karin smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I don't know about that. If I remember you were all for playing with me as soon as you saw the injury I had."

"It was your own fault for getting that injury." Toshiro returned to his usual emotionless expression but Karin could see a hint of happiness in his eyes. "I was only helping a little anyways, you scored the winning goal."

"Sure, sure, whatever you say."

Both Shinigami suddenly paused as they heard yelling. Another second and they were able to tell it was an argument occurring nearby.

Karin scowled and glared in the general direction of the noise. "Seriously? Why can't they just be quiet while they have an argument. It's the festival, don't they realize they're ruining the mood of everyone else?"

Toshiro suddenly began walking through the crowd to the argument and Karin had to run to catch up to him.

She moved herself so they could make eye contact and voiced her curiosity. "What are you doing? Are you going to try to solve whatever problem's going on?"

Toshiro sent her back a decisive nod. "Yes. I'm a captain, if a group of people get physical it should be my job to take care of them. Besides, this is a Gotei-run event, even while off duty I still have my job to do."

"Responsible as ever, huh Shiro?" He glared at her comment but said nothing else, now completely under the persona of a captain. "I'll help then."

The two looked at each other and nodded, having reached the source of the yelling.

* * *

 _Sorry if any of the characters felt off. Regardless, I can totally image even after becoming captain comander Kyoraku would still tease Toshiro. Hope that seemed to fit him and I didn't make Isshin and Ichigo unrealistic (I thought everything would be easier if they already supported their relationship.)_


	8. Chapter 8

"What seems to be the problem here?" Karin looked around and realized a crowd had formed around the argument. As soon as Toshiro spoke his commanding tone quieted the mumbling in the crowd. At times like this Karin was glad Toshiro was used to having all eyes on him.

Ignoring the yelling on the side Toshiro gave a slight glare as he looked through the crowd for answers. Despite not recognizing him several people flinched back at the younger soul's annoyance, unconsciously reacting to his dangerous spiritual pressure. Finally a single soul who appeared to be even younger than Toshiro and Karin stepped forward.

"I-I think one of these two is a member of a minor noble family and is angry at the owner of a stall because there was a chip in the bracelet he bought for his sister." The young soul stepped closer to the annoyed captain, remaining conscious due to having higher spiritual pressure than most souls.

Toshiro noticed the strain on the boy and reigned in his spiritual pressure, having been unaware he was unconsciously leaking a small portion of it out. He rubbed his temples in annoyance.

"I see." His statement was followed by a tense pause, silent with the exception of the two men arguing in the background. "Feel free to move. Please leave this to me, we'll take care of it."

An old woman walked closer, releasing a grandmotherly aura through her actions. "Dear, you should probably be careful. This is a noble, you wouldn't want to get on their bad side. Just let us handle this."

Toshiro scowled at the 'dear' comment and began to step forward until Karin reached an arm out to stop him.

"Maybe you should listen to her. They definitely can't do anything against you but they might do something against your grandmother or a member of your squad." Karin's words made him hesitate for a second until a loud crash resounded through the street.

"How dare you suggest I might have done such a thing? Me? Make the crack myself? Preposterous. I should have you arrested for speaking to a noble like that!"

"This is my store! You bought it, I'm free to sell whatever I want to. If you chose that bracelet then you can't come back later and demand a refund! And for all I know maybe you did make the crack, you nobles seem to think you can do whatever you want!"

"How dare you?!"

Karin nudged Toshiro, "It seems this is the result of both parties. It might just be best if you stay out of this."

Toshiro shook his head, leaving Karin slightly surprised. "I'd normally do that but I can't if this is a Gotei Thirteen run event. You're right about them possibly doing something to members of my squad but I'll just have to pay extra attention to them for a while. Besides, today is special."

"Special?"

"Don't worry about it, just get a member of the second division here. They're doing security tonight."

Toshiro ignored Karin's question in regards to his plan to confess and walked toward the two souls.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to stop your argument. You might end up breaking something in the neighborhood."

He raised his voice just enough to overpower the men arguing and attract their attention. The stall owner was a slightly gruff man with low spiritual pressure but unusually high physical strength. The noble was a young man- physically appearing to be in his late teens- with a bracelet in his hand.

"Who are you, kid?" The stall owner glared in a way that was not at all intimidating to the battle hardened captain.

"Stay out of this, it's-"

The words of the noble suddenly cut off and Toshiro correctly assumed the young man recognized the appearance of Soul Society's youngest captain.

Taking a slightly tired breath Toshiro introduced himself. "I am Hitsugaya Toshiro, captain of the tenth division of the thirteen court guard squads. As one of the hosts for the event I must ask you to stop."

Quickly, the noble became slightly worried, unsure of how to act having angered such a high authority. The stall owner, on the other hand, did not recognize him.

"Are you honestly trying to make me believe you're a captain? Even if you choose the youngest captain to masquerade as you're too young to be considered real, kid."

Toshiro's eyes glowed with power for a brief instance before they calmed, a slightly unnatural confidence filling his body. "I see, so I simply need to prove I am the genuine article for you to listen to me? Fine."

Before anyone surrounding him could ask what he meant they were thrust to the ground. With the exception of Karin no one could remain standing as the air became an ocean.

"Does this suffice?"

Toshiro's polite question remained unanswered as the temperature dropped to the point where ice began to form.

Taking special care to keep any more than an unseated squad member's level of reiatsu off the uninvolved civilians Toshiro continued crashing down on the two perpetrators. He had taken a page out of the former Captain Commanders book when dealing with people who refused to listen.

Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the power was gone. Everyone was able to breath again and looked up at the two poor souls who were now covered in ice from their toes to their shoulders.

"Once again," Toshiro began to speak, getting the undivided attention of everyone present, "I must ask you to stop your argument. As a member of the Gotei Thirteen I'm afraid I cannot allow this to continue here."

Slowly, the two men began to nod. Toshiro was confident that with the strong, effortless impression he made the noble would not do anything to one of his squad members.

Just then Karin returned with a group from the second division, shunpoing into existence in front of a shocked crowd.

Without sparing another glance to the crowd Toshiro turned to the Shinigami who was patiently waiting for instructions. "These two have been disrupting the environment. I do not believe it has gotten to the point where any punishment is required but keep an eye on them for now."

"Yes sir."

Karin returned to Toshiro's side, ready to leave. They were stopped when the young soul suddenly grabbed Toshiro's arm.

"What is it?" Toshiro scowled at the child who looked fully prepared to run in that instance. The kid controlled himself, however, taking a deep breath and meeting his eyes.

"You said you're the captain of the tenth division, right?"

"I did, what's your poin-"

"Do you think I have enough reiatsu to be a Shinigami?" Karin and Toshiro were forced to make eye contact at the child's sudden question. Their silent conversation of mutual confusion lasted only a second as the child continued to speak.

"You were even younger than I am now when you graduated. I have spiritual pressure and have been wanting to go to the academy for a while but was worried about the squads. All of the captains seemed super intimidating but I think I'd like to be in yours. Do you think I'd be able to?"

Karin had to bite her tongue to hold in a laugh at the flabbergasted expression Toshiro made. However long he had spent as a captain it seemed it wasn't quite long enough to make him used to fans.

"...Based on your spiritual pressure it seems to me you would do fine in the academy. Though in the end entry into my squad depends almost entirely on how hard you work for it. I also hope you realize that I'm a special case, it takes most people years." Toshiro finally said.

"I know, but thank you. Look forward to me joining your squad soon then!"

Toshiro continued to stare in shock as the kid left to rejoin the crowd and Karin was finally able to let out the laugh she'd been holding.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That was great. You've got yourself a fanboy, Shiro!" Toshiro blushed, turning to not make eye contact with her. "That was like, the most cliche conversation ever and the kid meant every word of it! Oh my god, that was hilarious. I have something to look forward to in the future! I can't wait for him to join our squad!"

By this point Karin was on the ground, clutching her stomach in pain. A member of the second division talked to Toshiro for a moment and left to continue his duties. As Karin looked up she couldn't help but admire his authoritative and commanding presence, it was a bit attractive.

"Shall we get going, then?" Karin asked, wiping a tear from her eye. "Oh, right, what was that you said about today being a special day? Just the festival or-"

Karin's words cut off as she and Toshiro noticed Matsumoto approaching them with Ichigo, Isshin and Orihime.

Splitting up the girls moved over to Karin while the Kurosaki men moved to Toshiro. Isshin donned his usual playful smirk as he and Ichigo began dragging Toshiro away.

"Sorry but we'll be borrowing him for a bit!" With that one last comment Isshin picked Toshiro up and shunpo'd away, Ichigo trailing behind.

Orihime and Matsumoto began to shove Karin in the opposite direction, ignoring all questions she asked about their intentions.

* * *

"Put me down!" Having waited for almost a minute then having spent another minute attempting diplomacy Toshiro finally snapped and was forced to yell.

Ichigo glanced up then looked at his dad. The two of them came to a silent agreement and stopped in their tracks.

"Can I ask you what you were doing?" Toshiro finally said, having dropped out of Isshin's grip. "Kidnapping a captain could be considered a serious offense. If the people doing this weren't the two of you there could be some trouble."

"But it is the two of us!" Isshin smiled. "It's us Kurosaki's so there's no way Kyoraku will do anything about it. In fact, he's in on all this."

"You guys got even the Captain Commander in on whatever your planning?" Toshiro was forced to once again sigh in annoyance. "And what, pray tell, is it that your planning?"

"We have something to teach you!"

Isshin's declaration was instantly met with annoyance on Toshiro's part- as well as ice covering the empty field they were in.

"What is it that you want to teach me?"

"Obviously, my second son, it's how to treat girls!" Snow and hail began to fall from the sky and the temperature dropped further.

Ichigo hit the back of Toshiro's head, lightening the temperature a bit. "Oh, lighten up Toshiro. We'd have to do this sometime."

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho."

"Never going to happen."

"Fine, and why do you say we'd have to do this sometime? Why would we ever need to have a conversation like this?"

"Because you're going to probably become Karin's boyfriend soon so we needed to do this before you did. Besides, you don't have any real family members other than your grandmother so me and Ichigo are the only people who can give you this talk!"

"She taught me how to be polite!"

"This isn't the kind of thing you can talk to her about." Ichigo refused, smirking as Toshiro lower the temperature again. Soul Society really had unpredictable weather patterns.

Toshiro soon realized this wasn't something he was going to be able to escape from so he sighed and allowed himself to his fate.

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

Isshin bounced excitedly, amazed Toshiro had given in so easily. He really did care for Karin a lot. "There's so much to tell you! What kind of presents you're allowed to give and of course that you're going to need to have dinner with us every night, you'll be even more like family than you already are. We need to tell Yuzu all about what you're fine with eating so she can cook for you-"

Ichigo cut his dad off with a sharp but lazy kick to the head. Toshiro had long since gotten used to the antics of his former captain but he was glad Ichigo had decided to intervene.

"What dad's trying to tell you," Ichigo explained, "Is that for everything you do for Karin there's one that's most important. Always protect her from everything, okay?"

Toshiro was silent as he thought over those words and what it meant. He supposed people who had lost their mother and wife would be the best people to tell him something like that.

"Always."

Ichigo smiled at the answer and both ignored Isshin as the older soul continued his rant about Toshiro having dinner with them.

* * *

Karin gave a slightly annoyed growl as she thought of how she was turned into a dress up doll for the two women. As happy as she was her brother and Orihime were still alive she wished their souls didn't stop aging around their twenties. A twenty year old version of them was much harder to avoid than a version of them that was unable to move around much.

Currently, she was hiding from her lieutenant and sister in law to escape their manipulative grasp. Honestly, what was wrong with just wearing the Shinigami uniform?

She also more than anything didn't want the two to notice she and Toshiro were wearing matching necklaces. It had been pure luck Matsumoto hadn't noticed when she went to get Kanna for something, but being dressed up by them would make it noticed immediately.

"Karin~ Where are you…" Matsumoto sang as she looked through the street near a stall with fashion from the world of the living. She felt Karin's reiatsu near their but it had been spread out enough the she couldn't pinpoint it.

"I'm not coming out until you two put those things away!" Matsumoto and Orihime looked down at their hands which each contained a bright pink bow.

"But Karin, you would look so cute in it!" Orihime whined to Matsumoto's completely agreement. "Just try it on, who knows, you might like it."

"NEVER!"

"And how else to do expect the captain to start liking you?" Matsumoto asked, a frown on her lips. "You're never going to get anywhere if you don't take the initiative sometimes. I'm not even saying you have to do anything, you just need to not hesitate when he offers something to you that you want!"

"You honestly think he would want me to wear those hideous things?"

Matsumoto and Orihime paused, looking down at the objects in their hands. "No, I suppose not… but we won't know until we try!"

"Not happening. Just give up already!"

"Promise to not waste an opportunity if it presents itself and we will." Matsumoto responded, much to Karin's annoyance. She paused and considered what she wanted from their relationship.

Several seconds passed and she reached her conclusion. She wanted to teach Toshiro Hitsugaya how to be happy.

"Fine." Karin consented, "If an opportunity presents itself that would make both of us happy then I'll definitely take it."

Having come to an agreement Karin jumped down from her hiding place to the two women who were celebrating their achievement.

Matsumoto and Orihime looked at each other and high fived. "Seems we've pushed Karin's character arc a little farther."

Used to Orihime's unusual statements Matsumoto just nodded in agreement. Right after that she sighed at the thought of not being able to play dress up with Karin.

"Why are you so set on playing dress up with me anyways?" Karin asked, "I'm sure you have plenty of other people you could use as your puppets."

"Yes but you always wear such boyish clothes. While those look good on you I think you would look even cuter with dresses and bows and jewelry and… are you wearing a necklace?"

Karin jumped, having forgotten about her accessory when she came down. "O-oh, this is… um… it's just a-"

"Wasn't Toshiro wearing something similar?" Orihime asked, finally getting a closer look at the charm.

"No!" Karin yelled, then calmed down as she desperately thought of an excuse. "They just look similar, a friend bought this for me so I decided to wear it. You know, 'cause today's a festival and all."

Both older women looked entirely unconvinced and were about to continue their interrogation when they felt a familiar spiritual pressure returning.

"Toshiro!" Karin called in surprise. Said boy continued to make his way to the girls while making frequent glances over his shoulder in fear.

Having confirmed he was not being followed Toshiro let out a relieved breath of air. "I apologize, your brother and father would not leave me alone."

Karin nodded in understanding, but paled slightly as Matsumoto and Orihime moved closer to Toshiro until they were right on top of him. Matsumoto reached out and lifted the necklace he was wearing to get a better look of it.

Orihime stared, then turned to Karin's neck, then back to Toshiro's necklace. "Yup, these are definitely the same ones."

Matsumoto's eyes sparkled, causing her to let out a childish squeak. "OMG! I can't wait to tell everyone about this! Captain is the friend you were talking about? I can't believe he bought you a matching necklace, everyone's going to go crazy when they hear about it! This is awesome!"

Orihime gave a similar squeal and yelled, "The ship has sailed!" Much to Toshiro and Karin's confusion.

* * *

The group stayed together for a while with Ichigo and Isshin joining them shortly after. Ichigo was mostly glad to be able to enjoy the festival without 'fans' coming at him from all directions. Especially since after the thousand year blood war some considered him some type of god.

However, being surrounded by his wife, father (a former captain), a third seat, a lieutenant and a captain made a majority of people who wanted to meet with him back off. To them there was nothing they could do for Ichigo, captains and war heroes obviously took priority over them.

As it became later Karin continued thinking about Matsumoto and Orihime's not-quite-teasing words. She did, more than anything else, want to be able to teach Toshiro how to be happy. She wanted to teach him how to have fun with her.

She wouldn't waste an opportunity if it presented itself but what was she supposed to do now? There was no obvious opportunity and she didn't know what to do to create one. At best she could answer Toshiro's questions in a way that gave him hints about what she wanted.

Beyond that she had no idea what to do!

As time went on in the evening she became more and more awkward. Finally she decided she needed some fresh air away from the group and- most notably- Toshiro.

"I'm going to head closer to the forest to get some fresh air!"

Isshin looked at her concerned. "Are you sure? The fireworks are going to start soon. Will you be watching them from there?"

Karin knew she had wanted to watch them with Toshiro but the atmosphere was to awkward for her to arrange anything like that.

"I'm sure. I'm just going to watch them from the forest, that sounds like it would be nice!"

Mentally Karin sighed at herself. She was always putting up walls whenever she got uncomfortable and distancing herself like this.

Toshiro watched as she left with a look of concern.

"Captain?"

Turning his head slightly, Toshiro looked her in the eye and answered Matsumoto's unspoken question. "I'm going to go check on her. I'm not sure if we'll be back in time for the fireworks, but don't worry about us."

Matsumoto nodded as she waved him off, then looked back at her accomplices. "It seems we have some work to do."

Orihime nodded, "We've given them enough hints about how they feel. Though if they start pushing themselves inside walls again we might need to give them an extra push."

Ichigo agreed, "Seems like it but how much is a little? How far can we go with all this before we start forcing them?"

"Just leave it to them!" Isshin declared, "We'll set up the perfect situation for them and just leave it to them to settle their feelings."

If Toshiro or Karin had seen the smirks that crossed the four souls they would have run for the hills and completely ruined the plan.

* * *

"Karin? Are you here?" Karin closed her eyes and listened as her captain called her name. Things had been so weird between them recently, she wished they could go back to when they were enjoying each other's company while playing soccer.

What should she say to him? She had been fighting with her feelings lately, how did Orihime and her brother make falling in love seem so easy?

If an opportunity presented itself then sure, she would take it. The problem was what to do to make the opportunity show up.

"Karin! Fireworks are starting soon, we can watch it together!" As tempting as the idea was Karin remained hidden while Toshiro walked around the forest. While contemplating what to do a woman began sneaking up behind her.

"Ga-" Feeling her mouth suddenly covered Karin went into a miniature panic attack until she realized it was her lieutenant. Rangiku leaned over her shoulders and smiled while Isshin became slightly giddy.

"Don't worry." Rangiku whispered, "we'll leave the two of you alone. All we're doing is creating a situation where the two of you can finally talk."

Karin silently feared for what Matsumoto's plan was, the woman's smile was certainly not doing anything to reassure her.

A rustle of leaves on the side alerted Karin to the fact that someone else was with them, doing a much poorer job of hiding their spiritual pressure. Ichigo looked back and made eye contact with Karin, then continued to release his power as he moved farther away from their group.

"Alright Ichigo," Orihime whispered as they moved, "Attract his attention."

Toshiro, who had been searching for Karin's spiritual pressure, suddenly felt a strong burst of it from his right. It seemed to be Kurosaki Ichigo, coming closer to him. A closer feel into the general area showed Karin was surrounded by Orihime, Matsumoto and captain Shiba (though he was just Isshin now).

A slight sigh escaped Toshiro's lips. "Honestly, if they already found her then why didn't they say anything?"

Making a sharp turn Toshiro switched directions and followed Ichigo's spiritual pressure to the group. He entered a large clearing in the forest next to a cliff.

Suddenly, Toshiro stopped and stared off the cliff. He liked the view, it was similar to the one in Karakura he liked. The sea of green at the bottom of the cliff that grew darker as the sun continued to set. Looking up the pale blue sky was rapidly becoming a midnight navy with small specks of white stars shining. The pink from the sunset was disappearing, becoming more closely resembling purple.

Yes, this would be a nice place to watch the fireworks from.

A sound in the bushes attracted his attention once again. He turned to see Ichigo standing alone, still radiating his spiritual pressure like always.

"Did you all find Karin?" Toshiro, as always, got straight to the point. "I've been looking for her but I couldn't find her until I felt her spiritual pressure near you."

Ichigo nodded though based on his body language Toshiro could tell he was going to try lying. "Yeah, she was in the trees. We happened to notice her and went after her, she's fine now. We should probably head back to watch the fireworks."

"Enough." Toshiro's voice cut off any possible rebellion. "What are you all planning? I'm not sure I have the patience to take part in any of your silly games."

"You don't need to worry about that." Ichigo reassured, "it was Matsumoto's idea but it's not too crazy."

"Really." The suspicion and complete lack of belief in Toshiro's tone was clearly evident, improved further by the single raised eyebrow.

"Yup." Ichigo smiled, "All we need to do is create an opportunity for the two of you."

"...opportunity?"

Ichigo shifted into a stance that allowed for a quick transition to shunpo and increased Toshiro's caution. Taking a hesitant step back Toshiro took care to pay as much attention to Ichigo as possible, aware of the man's speed.

"I don't suppose you'll be doing something now..." Toshiro knew his question was pointless but decided to hold onto a naive hope and ask anyway.

"Yup. In three, two, one!"


	9. Chapter 9

"Yup! In three, two, one!"

Toshiro, who had been keeping all his attention on Ichigo, was startled when his Lieutenant got behind him and swept his legs from under him. Just as he was about to put his foot down for balance he saw Isshin and Orihime throwing Karin on top of him- causing them both to collapse onto the ground.

In a second the troublemakers were gone, having long since flash stepped away from the cliff. Karin, annoyed, began to push herself up to go after them but stopped when she realized what she was pushing against.

Currently she was laying over Toshiro Hitsugaya in a slightly compromising position. Karin's face turned the color of the strawberry her brother was (not) named for.

Toshiro opened his eyes and saw Karin also laying on top of him, trying to push herself off his chest to get up. While Toshiro didn't blush as much against his already-pale skin it stood out.

Karin, regaining her control, quickly finished pushing herself off and getting up. Her face, while still blushing, had a glare that promised revenge for the people who got her into that situation. While she was considering different plans Toshiro sat up, slightly uncertain.

As it turned out asking, 'Will you please be my girlfriend' was a lot harder than it seemed when Matsumoto talked about it. Just what he got for listening to her about something like this.

The same feeling as when he first started to be a captain returned only feeling even stronger than that. Why did something so important have to be so nerve racking?

A deep breath. He forced himself to calm down. He had never let anything stop him from getting what he wanted nor let his own doubts get in his way.

"Karin…" as said girl turned around to look at her captain, Toshiro stood up and faced her. "Can we talk?" A confused and doubtful expression covered her face as she gave a hesitant nod.

"Sure, what about?"

"Our current relationship." Karin's eyes widened as fear began creeping in through the back of her mind. Did Toshiro no longer want to be friends? He was a captain, did that mean he thought a friendly relationship with her was bad for his reputation? Did that mean-

She began to stand up and leave, not wanting to hear him say that to her face, but stopped. Wasn't this exactly the sort of thing she did when they were trying to invite each other to the festival? Not listening and drawing their own conclusions.

Toshiro breathed a small sigh of relief when Karin sat down after looking like she was about to run. The last thing he wanted to do was force Karin to be in a relationship with him, if she ran he wouldn't have forced her to stay.

"I'm listening." Karin looked over and allowed for Toshiro to continue speaking. "What is it you wanted to talk about mister Captain Hitsugaya."

"It's Toshiro." He looked at her flabbergasted expression with a slight smile. "Toshiro is fine. I wouldn't be able to get you to call me 'Captain Hitsugaya' normally anyways."

"Y-yeah… okay…"

Another deep breath, 'you can do this Toshiro,' he told himself, 'you're a captain.' "I've been thinking about our relationship for a while and I've decided I want it to change. This has been something I've thought about for a while but getting you to join me at the festival was the wake up call I needed."

"What do you mean?"

"I had been hesitating for a long list of reasons but one of them was that it felt a bit like our relationship could stay the same forever. Part of me just wanted to be kids playing soccer in the world of the living and I didn't want to ruin that. So, even if you disagree about the changes I want to make to our relationship please keep being my friend."

Karin thought in silence for a second before smirking. "Wow, Shiro, you can be really dumb sometimes for a genius. Trust me, nothing you say will make me stop being friends with you, you couldn't force me to stop that!"

Feeling slightly relieved and gaining a confidence boost Toshiro continued. "I want to say… I really like spending time with you and like interacting with you as a whole." Toshiro began to pace slightly along the edge of the cliff next to them as Karin watched. "I'd like to think you feel the same way. At first I thought I loved you as a sister like Momo but then more and more time went by and I felt like you were a great friend to me and then-"

"Shiro, seriously, you never ramble like this. If it's important you always just get to the point without worrying." Karin cut him off and looked at him expectantly.

"I, right. Then, Karin. Will you be my girlfriend?" During the sentence he had closed his eyes, slowly opening them he saw Karin looking at him- shock and joy and excitement and a bunch of other emotions on her face.

"I didn't mean to force you it's just-"

His words were cut off when Karin jumped forward and kissed him. After standing in shock for a moment he returned the kiss and wrapped his arms around her.

'He tastes like peppermint ice cream', Karin realized right before they parted. Tears of joy threatened to fall from her face so she covered it up with a more confident expression.

"Yes!" Her yell startled Toshiro slightly and she continued to smile with joy. "I'd love to, you idiot! How could you possibly think I'd want to stop being friends with you because of this?"

"Well, I-"

"Don't answer that, I can guess. You're such an idiot sometimes, Shiro." As the two smiled at each other the first firework went off in the distance, painting the sky in a blue and purple light.

The cliff was the perfect location to watch fireworks from, Toshiro was suddenly glad he had found this place for them.

Both tenth division Shinigami stopped when they heard the faint snapping of a camera.

Reaching out Toshiro felt the spiritual pressure of the aforementioned 'trouble makers' nearby, excitedly buzzing next to each other.

Another camera click and Karin realized Matsumoto was taking pictures of them without their permission.

Toshiro blushed and stepped back while Karin's reiatsu began to vibrate darkly. The two made eye contact and Toshiro nodded to Karin, saying 'go-do-whatever-you-want-to-them'.

Karin walked closer to Toshiro and whispered into his ear, "Think you can get some kido for me? I'd like to scare them before I find them."

Giving an affectionate sigh Toshiro nodded and gathered his reiatsu. When they saw Karin move closer to Toshiro the group had leaned closer, excited to see what was about to happen.

That curiosity was quickly met with fear when the ground next to them cracked open due to kido. Before they had time to move Karin was on top of them, cutting down trees in precise locations to cut their escape off.

"So, what are you all doing hiding here this fine night?" She asked, the question becoming far less pleasant with her hand gripping her zanpakuto.

"Oh, you know, walking around here for a good place to watch fireworks." Matsumoto stammered out, still surprised by her sudden appearance.

"Even though they've already started?" Toshiro countered and, as usual, leaving Matsumoto without a reasonable excuse.

"I wouldn't suppose you were listening to the two of us?" Karin asked, "You know, coincidently while you were 'looking for a good place to watch fireworks'?"

"Maybe… a little." Ichigo responded, physically incapable of lying to his sister's face. Toshiro twitched in annoyance and the temperature of the night began to drop.

"Captain Shiba." Toshiro's voice was icy cold and did not inspire confidence to Ichigo they would survive the night. "Please explain the actions of you all as the others all seem to be hesitating to respond."

Isshin looked for a second like he might respond rationally before he fidgeted with energy and his eyes teared up.

"Masaki! Our darling daughter has finally gotten together with my second son! Our son now has a younger brother and little genius Toshiro is officially part of our family! At last we're all complete!"

"We're just dating, goat face!" Karin yelled to her sobbing dad while Toshiro briefly wondered how he got a photo of his wife in Soul Society. "It's not anything even legally binding yet, how can you say he's officially part of our family!"

"MASAKI! Karin's becoming more grown up now and won't agree with what her father says! THEY'RE ALL GROWING UP SO FAST!"

"If I hadn't died I would at least be in my 60s! How can that possibly be considered fast!?Are you even thinking before saying these things?!"

"MASAKI! Karin's being mean to me!"

The loud yells began to attract the attention of the people in the festival and Toshiro could feel the spiritual pressures of several normal souls heading over to find out what the noise was from. Heaving a sigh he turned to his right to find Ichigo also looking at him. The two made eye contact, having a brief, silent conversation.

After a moment they both nodded, took out their zanpakuto and looked back to Issin's crying form.

"Rein over the frosted heavens…" "Getsuga…"

"Hyorinmaru!" "Tensho!"

Isshin turned to look at the noise a second too slowly to stop it as Ichigo's power detached the piece of cliff he had been standing on and Toshiro's power froze him to the picture. While neither had come anywhere close to using their true power the two prodigies were never people anyone should annoy.

Matsumoto watched, entertained, as her former Captain Shiba was frozen to a picture and forced off a cliff, the rock under him collapsing over the course of the fall.

'Yup,' she thought, an unusually genuine smile on her lips, 'Captain Hitsugaya will fit right in with them.'

* * *

Karin and Toshiro were walking through the festival, having escaped from their family so they could spend some time together.

Orihime had been spouting nonsense about 'OMG-MY-OTP-GOT-TOGETHER-FINALLY!' while Isshin and Ichigo starting teasing Toshiro and Matsumoto started trying to dress Karin up like a doll again…

Yeah, they needed to leave.

The road was beautiful, stalls lining each side as the colored lights flickered back on, having turned off for the fireworks.

In the colored lights the pair of necklaces the couple had reflected in various colors and brought them the attention of quite a number of onlookers. Toshiro's distinctive appearance didn't help with their situation either.

"Hey you two!"  
Toshiro turned around and saw Kyoraku walking their way, intent on catching up to them. Toshiro gave a deep bow but internally cringed at how much attention the man was getting them.

"Hello, Captain Commander… is there something I can help you with?" Kyoraku shook his head 'no' and looked between the two younger souls.

"I'm just out for a walk and enjoying watching all the couples who came for the fireworks. So… when are you two finally going to start dating?" His question was met with the usual blush but surprisingly there was no denial accompanying it. "Are you two okay?"

"Um, well, you see…" Karin tried to find a way out but she was never comfortable playing word games with anyone.

"Captain Commander that really has nothing to do with our work." Toshiro reminded, "Or even the festival for that matter."

"Nope, you hesitated too long." The two members of the tenth division felt their tension spike at those words. "What's going on."

While Toshiro remained unable to come up with an acceptable answer Karin's reckless side decided, 'hey, might as well get it over with, he'll know soon enough.'

"We started dating!" Toshiro turned to her in shock at the unashamed way Kairn responded to Kyoraku's question. "Toshiro asked me right before the fireworks and I said yes!"

Kyoraku was uncharacteristically surprised and stood still for a second before an overjoyed grin crept onto his face.

"You finally asked her! And she finally sAID YES!" His voice began picking up in volume, causing nearby onlookers to turn to them and Toshiro to blush. "THIS IS GREAT WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR THIS TO HAPPEN. WE HAVE TO GO TELL EVERYONE!"

"All? Everyone?" Toshiro's voice conveyed the slight feeling of dread at his commander's statement. "How many of you are in on this?"

Kyoraku stopped his yells for a moment and began to count on his fingers. By the time he got to his other hand Toshiro decided to put a stop to it.

"Nevermind! It doesn't matter anymore. If you don't mind though, I'd like to know why you were all involved in this."

"Obviously it's because everyone thought you'd be a great couple. Matsumoto was our leader but once she got Orihime involved Ichigo and Isshin were pretty big contributors too. The number of members on this specific mission must have been kept low so they wouldn't be found out."

While ignoring Toshiro's mumbling about how, 'you could never call that a mission, something like this shouldn't even be considered by members of a military…' and so on Karin glared at the direction she knew her family left to.

"Oh, so Dad and Ichi-nii have been interfering with my life? And the romance part of my life at that? I'll have to… thank them later."

Kyoraku smiled as Karin's reiatsu became darker, almost taking a hollow edge to it. Toshiro's reiatsu was similarly annoyed, becoming more powerful as it covered the ground around them in a deadly frost. He was looking forward to hear what happened to his friend and (for Ichigo's dual wield) student from Matsumoto over drinks.

"Either way it's great to see the two of you, what will you be doing now? The fireworks are over but there's still a lot to see at the festival."

Karin snapped out of her revenge plans then turned to Toshiro, who she knew must have already been thinking about that. She was right, of course, Toshiro had been considering several different activities for them to do on their first night as a couple but had been unsure of what Karin would enjoy the most.

"What are some good options for us to try out, Shiro?" Karin asked while looking around, hoping to find something she liked.

"Well, if you want to there's a buffet with small cakes from the world of the living we can try out. It shouldn't be too far from here."

Karin raised an eyebrow at his suggestion, "Even though you don't like dessert?"

"There's supposed to be a fruit section with watermelon next to it, I can just have that." Toshiro went as far as giving a small smile at the thought of eating watermelon and seal the decision for Karin.

"Sure!"

"Alright then," Kyoraku smiled as he waved them off, "I'll be telling everyone the exciting news. You two go and have your fun."

* * *

The shop wasn't crowded, much to Toshiro's relief. Captains and even seated squad members tended to attract attention wherever they went. He liked the atmosphere of the place too.

It was made almost entirely of wood but the many open windows kept Toshiro from getting too hot. It also provided a great view of the nearby forest due to it's slightly remote location.

Karin liked the shop as well but for entirely different reasons.

"Toshiro, do you see all those cakes! There have got to be at least twenty different kinds of strawberry ones! And we can have as many as we want!" (I don't know if Karin likes dessert but it seems like it would fit her character)

Toshiro nodded and moved to the fruit section, picking out several slices of watermelon before finding a table. Karin joined him shortly after, a smile covering her expression.

Both ate happily for a minute, not talking about anything of importance. The mood was relaxing for Toshiro, at least until Karin looked at what he was eating.

"Really, Toshiro?"

"What?" Looking up from his watermelon Toshiro was greeted with a fond scowl courtesy of a Karin Kurosaki. Said girl was currently staring at his plate full of watermelon in distaste.

"You are such an old man!" She joked with a smirk, "We're at a cake buffet and you're really trying to tell me you're not going to have any cakes?"

Toshiro licked his lips of watermelon juice and responded, "I'm not a huge fan of sweets in the first place, it's fine. Besides it was worth it to come here as long as you enjoy yoursel-"

"No."

Toshiro blinked in confusion, "No?"

"I'm not just your subordinate anymore. This isn't just about you sacrificing yourself so that I can be happier and not face any difficulties in work. We both have to be happy and I won't accept anything else."

"I am happy."

"But you're not eating any cake." Karin's scowl changed to a smirk and she set out one of the cakes she had grabbed. A christmas themed one covered in peppermint shavings. "Here, I thought you might like this one! You will be trying some of mine."

Toshiro sighed, resigned to his fate, then suddenly blushed. Karin was using her spoon to pick a piece out and hold it up to him. "I-I, that's…"

"What are you waiting for? Try some already!" Nodding once, Toshiro leaned forward to taste it and found himself pleasantly surprised at the dash of peppermint. He still found the way he had to eat it highly embarrassing though.

"You might be a captain and I might be your subordinate but," Karin hesitated and drew Toshiro's complete attention, "I want us to be equals for this relationship."

Toshiro sat still, surprised for a second, then looked Karin in the eye. "I know, I also want that. If I ever have trouble with that I'd like for you to tell me so I can stop, that's the kind of relationship I want to have with you."

Karin smiled, a rare and genuine smile, as she continued eating. The two sat in a slightly awkward silence for a moment before Karin decided to break the ice.

"You know, you looked really hot when you liked the watermelon juice from your lips." The comment was so out of nowhere it completely took the captain off guard and made him start to choke on his watermelon.

"You okay Shiro?"

A couple more coughs later and Toshiro was able to calm down. "I'm fine. It's amazing to me how easily you can switch to talking about something like that."

"You didn't live in the modern world, Shiro." Karin explained, "stuff like that was all over the world and the internet, even if we only include the time I was alive."

"Right, I saw a bit on that while in the world of the living."

"Figured you did, it's literally everywhere. When we go back to the world of the living I should introduce you more to the online world."

Toshiro nodded, mentally planning to volunteer for a mission to the living world next time a possibility came up. It could be near-impossible for captains to leave their divisions.

"By the way, can I have some of your watermelon?" Karin asked while pointing to the slices in front of her boyfriend. "We haven't had watermelon together in a while."

"I guess we really haven't." Toshiro nodded as he sent one of his precious slices over. "It's nice to do that again, even if it's getting later." As he said that Toshiro gazed outside the window and watched the quickly darkening sky turn to a deep purple. "We usually ate together in the middle of the day."

"I think it's nicer like this, I've always been a lot more of a night person than a morning person anyways."

"If only Captain Shiba had also been like that." Toshiro grumbled as he momentarily became lost in memories. "He seems to have kept his habit of waking people up with sneak attacks."

"Yeah, he does that to Ichi-nii all the time. Did he do that to you when you were his third seat? I have a bit of trouble imagining how the squad remained standing with both him and Matsumoto."

"It only remained standing because I was doing the paperwork! Both of them seem to not understand that paperwork needs to be done for the division to remain standing!"

Karin nodded, giving him a pitying look while trying- and failing- to hide an amused smirk. Toshiro growled at her small laughs poorly disguised as coughing while she mustered the most sympathetic look she could given the current situation.

"I am very, very sorry for his actions."

"Really?" The slight sarcasm and annoyance were evident in his voice.

"Very sorry."

Toshiro shook his head but couldn't completely hide a small smile. Karin returned the smile, only hers was larger and had a hint of mischief.

"Just like I'm very sorry to do this!"

"Huh?" Toshiro was caught completely off guard as Karin reached over and picked up another slice of his watermelon. He glared at her and used his superior speed to reach over, stealing one of her cakes in the process.

"Hey!"

"You started it!" Normally Toshiro would feel embarrassed for using such a childish excuse but Karin was different. And she was the one who started it.

The pair's bickering continued for a minute before Karin began to laugh. Taken completely by surprise Toshiro was unsure of how to respond to her laughter and could only stare wide-eyed at her while she continued.

Wiping a tear from her eye Karin sent Toshiro a smirk. "So, even the great ice prince can act like a kid sometimes. I'll have to try to see this more often, you're much more fun this way."

"Ice prince?"

"It's the nickname some of the lower squad members who are your admirers gave you. I'm pretty sure you have a fun club, too."

"Why is this the first time I've heard of anything like that?!"

"Because Matsumoto-fukutaicho did everything she could to keep you from finding out. It's fine since you still don't know the members involved and can't force them to disband but she thinks this is hilarious and wants it to continue."

"Matsumoto!" Toshiro growled, glaring at the ground and unknowingly forcing the temperature of the room to drop. He jerked up, however, when he saw Karin reach over and take another piece of his watermelon.

"Karin?"

"Oops, sorry Shiro." she ripped off a piece of the watermelon and held it up for him to eat. "Here you go."

In a slightly childish act Toshiro glared at her, even while taking the piece from her hands.

"You really can't resist that stuff, huh?"

Toshiro continued ignoring her and instead savored the taste of the watermelon he was given back. Karin couldn't help but think he looked adorable when he ate the fruit with a smile.

The evening dragged on and soon the already dark sky was pitch black. Toshiro stared out the window at the forest, hoping to get a good view of the evening. Karin noticed his gaze and followed it to the window, remembering Toshiro's actions when they first met in the world of the living.

"Do you want to go see the view?" She recalled he had constantly been by the edge of the hill so he could look at the view of the town. Her question was met with a confused look from Toshiro who was confused at what she was trying to do.

"Come on," she told him as she reached over to his arm and pulled him up, "I think I can find a great spot for us to look from."

She dragged him with her out of the buffet and to the edge of a cliff similar to the one he had confessed his love on earlier that night. The stars and moon illuminated Soul Society with a gentle glow, giving the land a faint, icy glow.

"Pretty." Karin commented in her usual matter-of-fact way. "I guess I'm starting to see why you like spending so much time watching the view."

Toshiro smiled at her comment but was similarly entranced by the sight before him. There was nothing for him to say, both of them understood exactly how the other felt.

"Thank you for this." He finally whispered after spending several minutes watching the stars.

"It's the least I could do after you treated me to cake." Karin's words lacked the usual fire behind them, instead changing into having a slightly nostalgic air.

"Maybe, but still, thanks." He tapped her shoulder, getting her attention and she turned to make eye contact with him.

"I said it's not a prob-"

"I love you." In the back of his mind Toshiro wondered why it had been so hard for him to say that to her until now. It was suddenly natural to tell her that.

Karin's eyes widened slightly until she smiled and looked straight at him. Her eyes shown with a rare display of unhidden emotion. "I love you too."


	10. Chapter 10

"Hey, Kanna! Congratulations." Kanna looked over to see Karin yelling at her from across the practice field. The surrounding Shinigami immediately stopped training to stand in attention towards their superior officer.

"For what, exactly?" Kanna asked as she wiped a trail of sweat from her forehead.

"For making it to tenth seat already, obviously." Karin was impressed, once she recommended Kanna join in on her lessons with Toshiro said girl had improved a huge amount. It had only taken her two or three months to move up the ranks from an unseated member to a tenth seat.

Kanna blushed, slightly embarrassed at the genuine praise. "It's nothing compared to you, miss third seat. I still have a long way to go."

"Come on, you know I'm partly like this because of who my family is. My Dad and Ichi-nii have such huge spiritual pressure that I'd be impossible for me to be any different. Though I guess both of us pale in comparison to mister-youngest-captain-ever, right Toshiro?"

"I'd appreciate it if you avoided wording it like that." The surrounding Shinigami officers- who had already snapped to attention at Karin's presence- doubled their efforts when they noticed their captain.

Toshiro gave a slight sigh as he looked around, "How much time do you think we have to talk before the training head returns (1)? This isn't important enough to interrupt his work."

"Actually he shouldn't be back for a while." Kanna glanced over to an unseated officer who nodded in confirmation. "He said we needed to perfect the skill of being able to practice on our own- you know, like during missions when we have free time- so he wouldn't be interrupting us for a while. He wanted to see how much we could get done."

"I see," Toshiro shifted his attention from being singularly focused on Kanna to both Kanna and Karin, who looked at him expectantly. "In that case I would like to propose an offer to the two of you."

"What offer?" Karin interrupted, "you haven't explained why you want me over here in the first place. Some more information would be greatly appreciated."

"Both of you are similar in that you rose through the ranks quickly but you were able to for entirely different reasons. Karin is the best in our squad- aside from me and Matsumoto- at zanjutsu. Kanna is the best out of all the seated and unseated officers at kido. Previously, I've had the two of you train by fighting with each other but I would now like to try something different. I believe you two would also improve if you both fought together against a stronger opponent."

Both girls nodded along with what he was saying until the last part. Karin voiced their confusion, "And who are we fighting against? There aren't many stronger than us and even fewer who stand a chance against the both of us combined."

Toshiro nodded at he words, knowing they were true. He himself had worried about that before deciding he was willing to put some more work in than he would for most.

"For now if you agree you two would be fighting me or Matsumoto without sword releases. If none of us use sword releases you'll be able to learn from each other much more effectively."

Karin and Kanna smiled at the offer of a challenge they had never encountered before and readily agreed, "When do we start?"

"I have some free time after three, does it fit in with your schedules to start then?"

Kanna nodded and watched as Karin left the division's training field with her captain until they had moved too far out to see clearly.

"Thanks for this, Shiro." Toshiro turned his head slightly to make eye contact with his girlfriend, smiling slightly at her words.

"Don't worry about it. You seem to have started to get bored while you're doing work so I thought this would make it more fun for you." Karin gave him an over-exaggerated gasp before smirking, worrying Toshiro what would come next.

"Oh? You're giving me a present? I'm so touched, Shiro." Toshiro would have given a long-suffering sigh and rolled his eyes if he didn't already know her so well. Instead he sent her a slightly nostalgic smile while remembering the similar happiness she had when he offered her different ways to train with soccer.

* * *

"Are both of you ready?" Toshiro's question cut through the chilly air to the girls, causing both of them to tense up unconsciously. They had known what was about to happen but it hadn't entirely sunk in until that moment that they would actually have to fight Toshiro. A captain who should never be underestimated.

With how much time had passed since the Thousand Year Blood War Toshiro had improved by more leaps and bounds. He was steadily increasing his ability at even a slightly faster rate than Kyoraku had predicted he would due to his enourmous amount of dedication.

Taking a deep breath both girls were able to calm down and look at Toshiro, giving him their full concentration.

"We're ready." (2) Kanna answered after a moment's hesitation. Then Toshiro disappeared.

Barely moving out of the way in time the two were instantly made aware Toshiro had used shunpo to appear directly next to them. The slash through the air he made would have sliced their necks had they not dodged.

'Seems he's taking this pretty seriously', Karin thought as she and Kanna moved farther away from each other, 'An injury like that could have been fixed with kido but it would have ended the fight instantly.'

Kanna had similar thoughts before she realized Toshiro was once again coming after her. She brought up her own sword to defend but it was parried away.

In the next instant Karin was next to her, barely blocking the strike from hitting her neck. "I'll defend his sword, support me for now!"

"Right!" Kanna moved back and formed one of her favorite kido in her hands. "Oh lord, mask of flesh and blood, all creat-"

Hearing Kanna beginning to chant Karin smirked. When they sparred Kanna very rarely used the incantations but Karin knew the times she did made the spell multiply in power. She ducked under another slice from Toshiro only to realize he wanted her to move out of the way. He was moving to Kanna now.

Gritting her teeth Karin moved directly in front of Toshiro and clashed blades with him. Her muscles began to strain under to force he pushed against her before Toshiro changed his attack pattern. He was running out of time to stop Kanna like this so he moved up the level of difficulty.

Until now he had been mostly using simple attacks that would be difficult to to the strength he put behind them but that wasn't his usual fighting strategy. In a second he switched from the one had been using to train them to his usual one.

Karin blinked as the force she had been defending against disappeared only for Hyorinmaru to come up from behind her.

"Bakudo no Dai(3), Hainawa!"

In the following second Karin's arm connected to a rope made of reishi and her balance was thrown off. Toshiro pulled her closer to him, aiming an attack at her chest she was barely able to dodge.

In the back of her mind she realized Toshiro was using the kido like the chain that came with his Shikai. He was making up for one limitation simply through his own creativity. He was as impressive as always.

"you who bears the name of man-"

Karin scowled slightly as she continued to defend against Toshiro. Kanna was speaking as fast as she could but Toshiro was unfortunately able to move fast enough that Kanna became pressed for time. He was switching styles and casting kido with expertise that could only come from experience, proving the unbelievable amount of hours he spent perfecting his technique.

Karin was panting now, adrenalin making her brain work on overdrive. A crazy idea formed in her mind that was almost instantly vetoed for the sheer insanity of it. Almost.

'Why not?' She thought, 'Not like i have anything to lose.'

"Hado no Ichi, Sho!" Kanna and Toshiro were both caught off guard by the fact that Karin was using kido in a fight. The energy pushed Toshiro away from Karin and caught him off guard long enough for Karin to switch to offencive.

'Okay, part one worked,' Karin thought, 'Time for part two.'

Bringing their battle higher into the air to give Kanna more time worked wonderfully. Kanna, not having to worry as much about Toshiro, was able to increase the speed of her chanting even more than before.

"Barrier surges, March on-"

This kido needed to hit Toshiro for Kanna and Karin to even consider doing any damage to him. As embarrassing as this idea was it was worth it to win.

Karin ducked under Toshiro's slash and moved right in front of him, fully aware she was leaving her back and legs wide open for an attack. Toshiro used that opening to deliver a slice to her leg and Karin knew it would be hard to dodge him until that attack was healed.

'Kurosaki's are known for their crazy and reckless ideas, I guess.' She consented as she leaned forward, pushing her lips onto his.

To Toshiro everything had been fine. The training was going well and Karin was using some interesting fighting strategies. Then Karin suddenly came closer to him.

The world had stopped.

Or, more accurately, his brain had decided in that instant to stop functioning. Sometimes he hated how comfortable Karin could be with showing affection in a physical manner but he supposed that was just part of what the world of the living was like in the present.

Regardless, with that move on Karin's part Toshiro was left almost completely incapable of defending himself from Kanna's attack.

"To the South! Shokatsui! (4)"

The powerful and tightly condensed attack was finally fired, forcing Toshiro's brain to start up again in order to dodge.

It did, however, still manage to hit his arm with enough power to leave a mark. The girls had gotten one hit in.

Toshiro glared at his arm in slight frustration but was able to use Karin's lack of mobility from her leg injury to attack her shoulder and make her back up.

Using his lack of opponent Toshiro reappeared in front of Kanna who looked slightly tired from pushing so much spirit energy into her attack. Kanna flinched and backed up but Toshiro swept her legs from under her, finishing by pointing Hyorinmaru at her neck.

"Y-yield." Kanna barely breathed out, panting slightly. Toshiro removed Hyorinmaru and went to go pick up Karin.

Once he found her he set both girls down against some trees and started using healing kido to repair them. When they woke up Karin looked over and saw Toshiro's still injured arm covered with a bandage and smirked.

"What?" Toshiro interrogated, "I would like to remind you that you didn't win." (5)

Karin leaned back as Toshiro continued to heal the two of them. "We knew from the beginning we wouldn't be able to win against you. Our only real goal was to see how much damage we could do against you and we got a hit."

"As good as that is you two seem… entirely too happy."

"That's only because you refuse to be even a little bit proud of yourself and never let yourself be happy. If you were normal like everyone else you would understand exactly why we're as happy as we are right now." Toshiro steedly ignored the slight barb against him and continued to heal the girls. When he was mostly done he sat back and gained their complete attention.

"How do the two of you feel right now? Are you in good enough condition to listen to me give you advice or do you need more time to rest first?" He watched as both girls stayed quiet, considering their options.

"I think we're ready, captain." Kanna answered, "I want to know how to get stronger." Karin nodded enthusiastically, showing her complete support.

Toshiro gave a small sigh and looked both of them in the eye. "Alright. Part of the problem is that I just have much more experience than you and a lot more power to go with that. That's not something you can change by anything other than spending more time training but… would I be right to assume that's not the answer you're looking for?"

"Obviously." Karin scowled, for a brief moment reminding Toshiro of her brother. "I didn't ask for your help for you to tell me something like that."

"I would like to remind you that I am still your captain."

"If I don't treat you like this you might think I'm not the most amazing person in the world and I'm afraid that just won't do."

Toshiro and Karin shared a smile and Toshiro raised an eyebrow but made no objection. Kanna blinked as she watched the two of them and remembered what Karin did to momentarily stop Toshiro during the fight.

"Wow, this and the kiss from earlier? It's almost like you two are dating." Toshiro scowled and blushed when he noticed the teasing side of Kanna come out but to her great surprise he made no objection to what she said.

"Ah, yeah… see, remember how we went to the festival together?" Kanna nodded to Karin but looked highly confused.

"I do, Matsumoto-fukutaicho pulled me away from you two, right? What happened while I was gone, is anything wrong?"

"No, no, no, no." Karin took a deep breath then looked over to Toshiro. The two of them made eye contact for a fraction of a second while Toshiro sent her a rare but supporting smile. Through that Karin's hesitation drifted into the air and disappeared, getting smaller by the second like a balloon vanishing in the sky.

Kanna blinked at the confusing scene between the two and waited for them to answer her. Karin finally worked up the motivation to speak and turned to Kanna. "At the festival during the fireworks show Toshiro asked me out so… we're dating now!"

Kanna's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

We're dating now.

Had Karin really just said that? She hadn't thought… she had known Toshiro and Karin were close but she had no idea they were close enough that their relationship could change into this so suddenly. She hadn't been aware they had even been considering that.

"...Kanna?" Her captain's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she realized she had been distracted.

It only took a fraction of a second for Kanna to slip on a well practiced mask and deny the mix of shock and maybe even some jealousy.

"SERIOUSLY?! No way! Does Matsumoto know- no wait, stupid question, of course she does, but I can't believe this is the first time I've heard about this! How has this not already started circling around the rumor mill? This should have been enough time for me to have found out about it a long time ago-"

""Kanna?"" Karin and Toshiro simultaneously asked, equally concerned over their friend's reaction to the news.

"-though I guess I haven't been paying any attention to rumors lately, I've been spending all my time with you. Speaking of which, why did it take you so long to tell me?!"

Toshiro flinched back slightly, having been completely unprepared for such an energized reaction. He sat in slight shock for a half second with Karin acting similarly to his side. Eventually he was able to take a deep breath and answer Kanna's question.

"We didn't really see the point… it's not like it changes anything about the relationship the three of us have and it seemed like something we should keep hidden." Neither of the two noticed how Kanna pursed her lips at the first part but they did see her roll her eyes at the second.

"Sure, just keep it hidden from one of your best friends, makes perfect sense. Honestly, what's wrong with you two?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Toshiro inquired to which both Kanna and Karin sent him an unimpressed glare.

""Obviously.""

Kanna, looked down at the table, only taking a few seconds to think over her emotions regarding this conversation.

"Doesn't matter, though I will be getting payback for this later. Anyways, captain, could you please continue our lesson?"

Toshiro's experience as a captain gave him a slight edge over Karin in this specific instance. He knew Kanna was deflecting away from the conversation but he couldn't figure out why. Hesitating too long would seem suspicious so he simply nodded and thought over what advice he could give to the two girls.

"Right, in that case I have some suggestions for both of you but this is mostly what I think would be your best options given your fighting styles. No one knows your styles better than you so it's up to you whether or not you decide to follow my advice."

"We know, Shiro." Karin reassured, "Just get to the interesting part already."

"I would also like to hear what your opinion is, if you wouldn't mind." Kanna's agreement allowed the conversation to be completely redirected to the new topic, much to her relief.

"Alright, then. The two of you seem to have a pretty good understanding of how your fighting styles work on their own. You both know them far better than I do and can ask other people for assistance in your one on one fighting. What I'm going to advise you on is the fighting you did when you were together."

"Is that really any different?" Karin asked, "I mean, as long as we're good by ourselves and don't get in each other's way I don't see why it would matter."

Toshiro, to her great surprise, nodded in agreement. "You're right, it might not matter. If I was weaker than the two of you combined then the current strategy you used would be perfectly acceptable. It would actually probably work on several strong hollows if you went on a mission together. The problem is that I'm already stronger than both of you together."

"Doesn't that just mean we're not capable of beating you?" Kanna frowned as she began to doubt her own ability.

"It could. You both currently have no advantages over me. I'm more experienced, have more power than both of you combined, have a better understanding of the theory behind fighting, am more balanced and I know how you two fight already. But even with that said it doesn't mean there's no way for you to beat me."

"That's sure what it sounds like to me." Karin protested in a doubtful voice. Kanna's scowl increased but she agreed with what Karin said.

"You didn't have any advantages over me in our last battle but you can train yourself to. You did a little bit of this before and that's why you were able to land a hit on me. Your advantage is that there's two of you. Normally that would mean you had a major advantage but because of who I am it doesn't. Because of this, what matters is how much you can use this advantage of your's to succeed against me."

Kanna nodded along with his words to show her understanding. "So, you're saying we have one advantage you don't and we need to learn how we can exploit that to it's fullest capacity? That we need to perfect that if we want to do better against you."

"Essentially, yes."

"Makes sense." Karin leaned back slightly against the tree she had been sat down against in thought. She had no experience working on something like this. The academy had taught her just the basics of working together in a team and she suspected Kanna was the same way. This was so far out of her comfort zone she had no choice but to leave it all to Toshiro.

Motivation sparked in Kanna's eyes and she turned to Toshiro with a burning desire to improve. "And what advice can you give us about working together like that?"

Toshiro stood up and caught their complete attention.

"Once again, this is just what I think you'll do best in. I have much more experience than both of you but I have no way of being sure that my advice will always work as I don't fight in a pair either."

"Who should we talk to if we want help on that?" Kanna interjected. Toshiro paused for a moment in thought before responding.

"Kyoraku-soutaicho is probably the best person. He was skilled at working together with captain Ukitake Jushiro before the Thousand Year Blood War."

Karin nodded while Kanna looked thoughtful, both considering the prices and benefited of asking the captain commander for help.

"Anyways, I'll give advice to you individually. Karin, you did well in keeping me occupied but you need to be sure that if you're defending someone you completely block them. There were several times when I was closer to Kanna or when I could have fired a kido attack that would hit her. Kanna, it would have been easier for Karin to continue defending you if you healed her. While it was not a bad plan to focus on a big attack it could be dangerous if you miss your one shot. Also, what I said about being able to aim kido back at you still applies. You should have hid your spiritual pressure like I taught you and found some cover to hide behind."

"Even though I had you occupied?" Karin asked, then reconsidered her question with a scowl, "though I guess I did give you a few too many chances to attack her. Alright, is there anything else?"

"I suppose…" Toshiro trailed off and he felt a light pink blush climbing the pale skin on his neck. "Karin, while it's good you were able to change your fighting style to match a weakness of your opponent please remember that last distraction of yours will not work on everyone."

Karin and Kanna also blushed as they remembered the kiss Karin had given him just a minute ago. Karin looked away and gave an unusually quiet mumble of understanding and Toshiro looked away.

Karin's cheeks were a bright cherry red that looked beautiful next to her short obsidian hair. Toshiro decided he liked how she looked when she was covered in red.

He sighed and recollected himself, covering his face with a metaphorical mask he used when he first became a captain.

"That's all for today, both of you are free to go."

Kanna and Karin gave him a respectful bow and a friendly nod before walking away. Toshiro smiled one of his rare real smiles and watched them walk away while gossiping. He was glad Karin had someone she was friends with.

* * *

I'm talking about the guy who appears after Toshiro lost his bankai in the manga. When Toshiro says he wants to train again starting from the bottom with his subordinates going through the sword strikes there's someone leading them but I don't know who.

So to be perfectly honest I usually skip over or skim fight scenes in things I'm reading. It should be fine for you to do that here and just skim over it to get a basic idea of what happens in it if you want to. I have this section here partly because I wanted to try writing one of these scenes, partly because this is a battle manga and it makes sense for the characters to do this and partly because I thought it was the easiest/ most entertaining way for me to show what I wanted to.

I'm not actually sure what number this one corresponds to so I just looked on google translate for 'fourth' and went with that. Sorry, it's my best guess.

I don't actually know how long it would take someone to finish chanting that. I figure even if you knew all the words by heart it would still take a while and the Bleach characters are able to move at crazy fast speed so who knows how much they'd be able to do in that time. I realize I'm probably stretching your suspension of belief but as far as I can tell they'd be able to do something like this.

Sorry to anyone who disagrees with me but yeah, I feel like Toshiro should have enough power that he can win against them any day. I mean he's a captain who trained for years after the Thousand Year Blood War, even just around one year after the Winter War he was so much stronger that this just makes sense to me. He gets stronger at such a fast rate that it would seem silly to me if he lost to them (and they've only been training for a few years, two decades at most) regardless of the circumstances.

THANKS FOR READING!


	11. Chapter 11

Kanna leaned back over her bed in the tenth squad barracks with a groan. The sparring lesson she just had left her covered head to toe in bruises.

And to top it all off she found out her best friend was dating her captain!

She knew she should be happy for her friends. They were together and happy, no problems here. Except Kanna, in the back of her mind, was jealous.

She had never been that interested in romance before now. It always seemed like a pain, something that took up time which could be spent doing other things and instead spent making someone else happy.

So instead she had poured herself into training, something she viewed as productive. Then despite all her training, she found she couldn't really fit in anywhere. The teachers at the academy were mostly people who favored the nobles. The students weren't interested in becoming friends with someone who spent all their time working and the boys were too embarrassed to spend time together with a girl stronger than them.

When it came time to choose what division she wanted to join she was at a complete loss. She figured it wouldn't matter, whatever division she joined would give her the same experience as any other ones.

Then she heard rumors of someone who went through an experience very similar to her but was able to finish the academy in one year. She dug into that rumor and discovered that the Captain of squad ten had the same academy life as she did only to an even greater extent.

So she joined his squad, and soon found it was the best decision of her life. She became friends with the third seat, Lieutenant and the Captain. And the Captain, unlike her teachers back at the academy, didn't care about your background.

He gave her attention, gave her advice, gave her someone to spend time with, and soon she found herself falling in love with him.

Karin did some of these things too but Toshiro was the one with the connections, busy schedule, other squad members, nothing to gain and everything to lose. No one had ever treated her like that before, and she hadn't cared but… she didn't want to go back to how it was before.

She entered the academy and Thirteen Court Guard Squads with a goal, but for the first time in a long time, she felt herself caring about something other than just her goal.

She closed her eyes and felt her face twist into a scowl, fighting off tears.

She was a terrible friend.

Why couldn't she just be happy for them?

* * *

"Kanna? Are you doing alright?" Karin found Kanna lost in thought as she walked around the division training ground.

Said girl looked up in confusion and surprise, snapping out of her dreamy state. "Oh, Karin. Yeah, sorry, I'm just thinking."

"About what? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, no, I'm perfectly fine-"

Karin raised an eyebrow and sent over a powerful scowl. The two were locking in a staring contest for several seconds as Kanna found her resolve quickly disappearing.

"I… I'm waiting for my brother." Kanna answered, hoping Karin would buy her excuse. "I was just thinking about what I want to do with him."

"You have a brother?" A new voice interrupted their conversation and Kanna looked up to see her fears realized as Toshiro walked up to them.

"Ah… I do… guess I forgot to mention him, sorry."

"It's not a problem at all," Toshiro reassured as he shook his head. "Come on, Karin. We shouldn't be interrupting them, they probably don't get to see each other very often." Turning to Kanna he continued with, "Please say hello to your brother for us."

"Actually," Kanna interrupted before he could turn away, "I wouldn't mind introducing you. Maybe you can stay a little longer."

He voice gradually became more quiet as the sentence trailed off, but Karin smiled at the opportunity to spend time with her friend.

"Sure!" She yelled, apparently making the decision for Toshiro as well.

Kanna smiled in relief, not seeing her brother often meant she sometimes felt a little awkward around him. Having her friends with her or close by would make the meeting much more bearable on her part.

* * *

Karin sat down next to Toshiro as they waited to meet Kanna's brother. She was gone, making a quick stop back to the barracks to make sure she got the right time. Karin got some alone time with Toshiro, having had most of her schedule occupied with work recently.

"Hey, Toshiro," after a slight pause to make sure she had his attention Karin continued, "How long do you think we'll have to enjoy our relationship as it is before goat-face, Orihime-nee and Matsumoto start planning on making us get married or something."

Toshiro hummed in thought, forcing down the blush that had risen at the thought of marriage. "I'm not completely sure," he admitted, "but we should have some time. The relationships between souls tend to progress much more slowly so I would assume they would give us at least five years before trying something like that. Though we also need to consider the fact that Shinigami in the Gotei thirteen- even powerful ones- could die at any moment. That may cause them to become impatient so I would assume we would have an average of three years but…"

"But?"

"I've long since given up trying to understand those three. With Kurosa… Ichi-nii being thrown into the mix I'd say it's a given they'll defy all our expectations."

Karin gave a frustrated sigh similar to the one Toshiro used with a certain misbehaving (often drunk) subordinate.

"Figures." Thinking about the group of interferers honestly made Karin exhausted. She relaxed her body and leaned against Toshiro's shoulder, surprising him. It was rare for her to show any weakness or trust in other people.

A calm silence passed for several seconds, allowing both Shinigami to enjoy their rare open schedule as they heard children playing in the distance.

Toshiro turned his head when he felt Karin's face twist into her usual frown. Sending her a concerned look he stared at her, waiting for an explanation.

"It's not a big deal, Shiro. Yuzu and Orihime-nee were really set on taking me out shopping soon so I'm going to have to stand through hours upon hours of walking around to get something I don't want nor care about." The more she thought about it the more annoyed she became. "I can't figure out a plan to run away."

"I don't think you're going to be able to if both of them are set on it. Especially Yuzu." Toshiro admitted with a half-resigned half-amused expression on his face. Karin nodded, having already known he had never been one for telling a white lie to give short term happiness. Especially if they ended up suffering for it in the long run.

"Yeah, no one can go against her. Sometimes I doubt whether she's really the weakest member of our family. You'd think a former Captain, a third seat and a two-time war hero would be able to do something to make her stop."

Toshiro gave a small smile and an almost laugh. "Not all strength is physical, it seems."

"Point taken. Any ideas for what I should do on the shopping trip then, mister captain?"

After a second of thought Toshiro came up with his answer. "Get something red. A red ribbon or shirt or necklace."

"I meant to get out of the shopping tri- wait, what?"

"I said I think you should go buy something red during the shopping trip. It would look good on you. Especially if it was just a bright dash." Toshiro repeated. He was no fashion expert but he couldn't help remembering how Karin had looked when she blushed. More red would be nice.

"Uh… yeah, okay. That… sounds nice." By this point both she and Toshiro were using all their concentration to keep any trace of blush off themselves and couldn't continue speaking.

Luckily Kanna chose that moment to return, a smile on her face. "Hey you two. Sorry, did I keep you for too long?"

"Nah," Karin waved her concerns off while standing up. "Don't worry about it, me and Shiro just talked while you were gone. So? Was that the right time?"

"I actually came half an hour early by mistake so he should be arriving any second now." Kanna sat down next to the couple and copied their earlier relaxation. "His name's Takahiro. He isn't involved with the Shinigami but we're members of a really minor noble family so he was able to get some education in swordplay. Me and a friend of ours also taught him a bit of kido."

"Oh? That's impressive. Teaching is one of the best ways to truly learn a technique." Toshiro complemented and Karin agreed.

"Yeah, seems your whole family tries to be as perfect as possible."

"Guess I can't slack off then," Kanna began, "If I want to be perfect I'm going to need to beat you first, right?"  
"Hah, dream on. It's never going to happen. You and your brother could never measure up to the perfection that is Karin Kurosaki."

"Humble, aren't we." Toshiro added, smirking as Karin turned to glare at him.

Just as Karin was about to speak the three felt a higher than normal spiritual pressure headed their way- one that Kanna recognized.

"Hi, big brother," Kanna said, giving a slight bow in his general direction. "This is my captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of the tenth division and his girlfriend and third seat Kurosaki Karin. You two, this is my older brother, Takahiro."

The three souls being introduced to each other sent each other polite bows (of varying degrees; Karin's was the least formal but Toshiro's was the most).

"Why are they here?" The brother spoke, surprising Karin; who was used to Ichigo; at his cold and unfriendly speak toward his sister as well as is lack of proper acknowledgment. Takahiro was about a foot taller than Toshiro but still less tall than Ichigo. He had dark brown hair and ebony eyes and his personality seemed to be about as serious as Toshiro was with strangers.

"I asked them for assistance in explaining my current experience with the Court Guard Squads to you. I decided it would be a better report if I could give you examples and introduce second and third perspectives on events."

"I see, that is acceptable." Takahiro closed his eyes for a moment, as if coming to terms with the new information, then pointed in the direction of a nearby teahouse. "Why don't we continue talking over there? It seems more pleasant than staying here and it seems like this might take longer than I originally planned for."

Toshiro and Karin looked at Kanna, wordlessly expressing that they didn't care and the final decision would be entirely up to her.

Kanna smiled and nodded, "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Takahiro-nii."

* * *

The meeting started off awkward, sounding more like Kanna was giving a report to Toshiro and Karin. However, once Toshiro and Takahiro found they had a lot in common when it came to the political decisions soul society made they began to talk and it almost completely removed the tense atmosphere from before.

"Central Forty-Six was obviously in the wrong with that decision, however the fact that the central has completely different members should relieve a majority of the blame," Toshiro argued.

"Perhaps, but we shouldn't take that to mean they should completely ignore the mistakes their predecessors made, nor should they feel they don't need to fix any of their mistakes." Takahiro brought up, making Toshiro nod in agreement.

"You're right, but they already are. Allowing some of the Vizard to return to being Captains is smoothing over their relationships with people who have been wronged by them in the past. There is a limit to what they can do to make up for their previous mistakes. Sometimes the best thing to do is to repair old wounds with those that are still here."

"Perhaps, but from what I heard a majority of that last decision was caused by the influence and change Ichigo Kurosaki brought in the upper ranks of the Shinigami during the war."

"You might be right, but having an outside force wild-card should not undermine the fact that they did agree to let them back. And then during the Thousand Year Blood War they allowed us to take similar risks after discovering our enemies could steal our bankai."

"Yes, I see your point," Takahiro paused, "May I ask for your opinion on how these matters could be resolved as a captain?"

"Now that I've become a captain I see my job and the responsibility I have the trust of my subordinates and they are the most important part. My duty as a captain is something I believe I should hold over any possible personal grudge I have because I am also all the Shinigami who serve under me. (1) So, I think we need to do everything we can to repair old grudges so that our government can remain strong, of course, while keeping check on our moral ethics."

Karin and Kanna stared at each other, conveying the pain and confusion each was feeling. Maybe they should have known better than to allow the two to start talking.

Having decided Toshiro had been spilling 'nonsense' long enough Karin decided to try to make them speak a human language again.

"Shiro, you're giving yourself and everyone around you a headache talking like that. We're not at a captains meeting and we're not people you need to give a speech to." Kanna nodded in agreement, feeling similarly to Karin. While both could understand what was being said they had trouble focusing too long and it all started to sound to them like white noise in the background. (2)

Takahiro frowned slightly at Kanna but was able to keep himself from saying anything, probably because Karin was the only one who said anything.

"Sorry, you two. We can switch to a different topic, but first could I ask you something? What do you think is the best way for Soul Society to repair it's relationships with those it wronged?"

"Why are you asking that?" Karin interrupted, "don't you and the other Captains talk about this all the time?" Kanna and her brother gave him similar speculative looks once they realized the truth in Karin's words.

"We do, but I think it's dangerous if we become too reliant on the opinions and power of our small group and don't ever try to ask for a new perspective."

"Is your belief shared by all the captains?"

This time Toshiro found his question interrupted by Takahiro who was suddenly looking very thoughtful. He and Kanna made eye contact and wordlessly communicated in a way that gave Toshiro and Karin the impression there was more meaning behind the question than first implied.

"I wouldn't say that," Toshiro began, "but it is changing. I'm a relatively new captain so that might be part of it but we definitely have changed since Kurosaki Ichigo, Karin's brother, got involved in our government."

Kanna turned away from Toshiro to look at Karin for a moment while her brother kept his attention entirely focused on Toshiro as he continued his explanation. "Captain Commander Kyoraku is much more open to new ideas and less strict on the laws than Captain Commander Yamamoto was. Shinji and the other Vizard who have rejoined our ranks are previous victims of Soul Society law so they're probably the most suspecting of any decision the Central 46 makes. Any worries members of their squads have can be sent directly to the captain who will get someone to look into it more. And yes, I'm a new captain but I believe my squad members trust me enough to come talk to me if they have any concerns. I wouldn't trust the Captain of Squad Twelve and Soi-fon is a risky gamble at best but overall we're much better than we used to be."

Takahiro leaned back in his chair as he thought over what he had just been told by Toshiro and Kanna had similar thoughtful expression on her face. Seeing the obvious similarities between the two siblings Toshiro and Karin smirked and made eye contact.

"Still, I personally believe…" Takahiro began, though it was obvious he was much more hesitant and unsure than before, "there are some grudges that can't be repaired no matter how much effort is put into that by you. The only solution for some of the actions your government has taken is a complete reorganization of it."

"Yeah," Kanna was even more hesitant than her brother but Toshiro and Karin could see they both had strong beliefs about what they were saying. "Without completely changing the government any decay that has seeped into the legal system will remain. It's like with that country in the world of the living, America. The human's didn't try to fix their country from the inside, they made a new one and now they're a world superpower. You need to start from scratch to fix those mistakes."

"Then we'll agree to disagree." Karin declared, ending the conversation.

Any tension that had existed moments ago was gone. Toshiro smiled slightly, glad Karin was able to keep any arguments from forming.

"Would you like to walk with us to the Tenth Division?" Toshiro asked, "Me and Karin have work, paperwork and training respectively, but I see no problem with talking as we go back. I'm interested in hearing more about your opinions, Takahiro."

Kanna watched her brother pause, actually considering agreeing. She mostly knew her brother through a polite but distant relationship, as far as she knew he never spent time with anyone who was his friend. Though the other squad members had said Captain Hitsugaya did the same thing before Karin arrived so maybe it wasn't as weird as she thought.

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline your offer, I am also busy today and did not expect to stay so long, but in the future I believe I would be happy to come talk with you again."

"I look forward to when that day comes." Toshiro responded as he stood up. Following his lead, Karin scooted her chair back and stretched, then walked over to her boyfriend.

Kanna spared a brief glance at her brother who was also getting up. "Goodbye big brother, it was a pleasure to see you again."

Karin scowled at her overly-polite tone but knew better than to comment on it. The group of three walked out of the teahouse and waved as they let the new addition to the group leave them to go a different way.

* * *

"Hey, Karin…" While turning her head to Kanna Karin raised her eyebrow in question. Seeing it Kanna snapped out of her thoughts and continued, "What's your… what do you think about what we were talking about earlier? How Toshiro said he knows he needs to always put his duty as a Captain over any personal grudge or relationship."

Karin thought Kanna's question over for a moment before answering. "I think he's right… we're responsible for any member of our division who follows our orders. We need to be sure we don't give them a job they can't handle and get killed because they're our responsibility. I think he's right about everything he said, it might actually be part of what I find so endearing about him…"

"But?"

"But I'm not sure I'd be able to do the same thing. To fight a friend of mine who decided to go against Soul Society, even if it endangered the people under me. I know that if the same thing ever happened to Ichi-n… go he would chase them to the ends of the earth and hear their side of the story and then, if they still couldn't come to an agreement, he would be able to put keeping everyone else he cares about safe over that one friend. I know because he did that when one of his friends joined the Quincy- even if we found out he was still on our side at the end." Karin paused in her rant and looked over at Kanna, "I'm not sure I could do the same thing. I don't let many people get close to me- as I'm sure you know- so I don't think I'd be able to seriously and legitimately try to kill them. (3)"

Kanna nodded to show her understanding and broke eye contact. It was a topic Kanna had considered before but only in the back of her mind but never to the point Karin was at. She felt about the same as Karin, envying the dedication Toshiro was able to put into his words when he spoke. That was what made her sure he meant everything he had been saying.

She needed some time to think alone.

"Karin, sorry but I just remembered something I need to do. Will you be going to help the captain with his paperwork?"

After a moment's thought Karin shrugged, "Why not? It's not like I have anything better to do and I'm sure Shiro's going to drown himself in the stuff if I don't come to help him. God knows that as strong and loyal as Matsumoto is she's never going to help him with it."

"Later, then."

The two girls split up with Karin walking slightly faster, not having noticed she and Kanna were falling behind Toshiro in their walk.

"Shiro, Kanna said she remembered she had something to do so she left, want some help with your paperwork?"

"I'd appreciate it, thanks." Toshiro smiled slightly, his eyes shifting a softer version of their usual ice. It was a look Karin was starting to realize was saved for her and her alone.

The two entered the division and sat across from each other, signing the papers. Karin looked up and saw that Toshiro was more relaxed than he had been in a long time.

"Was it nice?" Karin started and Toshiro looked up at her so she continued. "You know, getting to spend some time with actual emotions and not having to be the prodigy captain. Sure, you get to act with no masks when you're with me but I'm pretty sure it's been forever since you got to really relax with anyone who's not a Kurosaki."

"You're family has always been unusual…. I think you might be right, it was nice to honestly state my opinion without having to worry about playing politics with Central Forty Six or keeping my image as a Captain up in front of the members of the squad."

"We should do that again sometime then. I'm not crazy about spending time with people but sacrifices must be made."

"Very funny." Karin very pointedly ignored the eyeroll Toshiro sent her.

"Love you two." Despite the smirk on her face Karin's voice was less teasing and more real than how it sounds when she usually says those words.

The couple sat in silence and continued to work together in a comfortable silence.

* * *

The 'my duty as a captain is more important than any personal grudge' bit is based off how Toshiro acted in the Bleach (S) Abridged move The Diamond Dust Rebellion. I actually don't know anything about the movie other than what I watched in the abridged but I guess that doesn't really matter right now. Anyways you should really go check it out.

I'm embarrassed to say that I listened to a forty minute speech by the President and this is exactly what happened to me. I could understand what was being said if I focused but I had trouble keeping my attention on it and I ended up sort of zoning out because it sounded like he was just saying a lot of the same thing. I don't want to make the girls sound unintelligent but Toshiro is both a genius and a prodigy who is well balanced in everything, I think it would take a lot of patience to follow along with this conversation.

So, I could be completely mischaracterizing her but this just sort of makes sense to me. She's really closed off and doesn't let many people in but cares deeply about them once she does. I think she would take one of the people she let in betraying her really badly. Like if Ichigo were to leave the family suddenly with no explanation she'd be worried but also really angry and hurt by him because she trusted him not to hurt her or Yuzu. If she knew for a fact she had been lied to or betrayed I feel like it would really hurt her and for all her anger and apparent nonchalance she cares deeply about those select few people.


	12. Chapter 12

"You know, the weather's really nice today. You could at least try not to scowl and form ice everywhere you go." Toshiro, just as she said, scowled when Karin spoke and turned to her with a heavily annoyed expression that quickly softened.

"Sorry, Matsumoto was just annoying me earlier today." He ran a hand through his uncontrollable naturally-white hair, clearly expressing his exhaustion.

Karin smiled as her black eyes met Toshiro's piercing teal ones and then she flicked him on his forehead, much to his surprise.

"What?!"  
"We're on a date. The least you could do is relax a little bit more. I'm starting to actually feel a temperature drop and I think those innocent pedestrians surrounding us wouldn't appreciate getting their feet frozen to the ground."

Toshiro looked for a second like he was about to argue but just as quickly he deflated. "You're right, sorry again. Want to go grab something to eat? I'll treat you."

"That's nice of you, any specific reason?"

"Partly because of how I was acting just now and partly because Yuzu said 'when you're on a date the girls should always be bought things by the boys.' Besides, I really don't have any other use for all the money I'm getting as a captain."

Karin sighed and shook her head slightly. "Way to go Yuzu. Honestly, why does she have such sexist ideas when it comes to romance."

"It's just part of who she is Karin," Toshiro commented, "and I'm buying you food. You shouldn't have any reason to complain."

Karin sent Toshiro a glare to rival Ichigo's when he gets annoyed. "Fine, but just this once."

Toshiro nodded and opened a door, their conversation having given them enough time to walk across town to a small shop.

"I've never actually been here before, what do they sell here?" Karin asked as she looked around the shop, marvelling at the warm wood and open windows which made it up. "If I'm using my day off work to eat here it better be good."

"I've never actually tried going here before but it's apparently a place with crepes. Matsumoto wouldn't stop talking about it and according to her the dessert ones are amazing."

"Hmm. Guess we'll have to take her word on that then. Which one do you want?" Karin looked up at the large, towering menu in thought. You could add nutella and marshmallows and fruits and honey and whipped cream and powdered sugar and chocolate or strawberry sauce on top and chocolate or just have a plain sugar crepe.

"...There's a lot of options…"

Karin smirked, "So the prodigy captain isn't used to menus from the world of the living with infinite combinations? Don't worry, I'll help you."

"I… well… thank you, I'd appreciate that." It took all of Karin's willpower to not fall to the ground laughing on the spot. It also took all her willpower not to blush at the slightly embarrassed expression Toshiro was making.

"I think the creme boy'd like the most would either be one filled with fruit and whipped cream or a plain sugar-only one. Which one of those sounds more appealing to you?"

Karin was glad that as Toshiro looked over the offered fruits the blush that had been rising on his neck disappeared. It was much easier to not embarrass herself and concentrate when he seemed to be the normal him.

"I think I'll be having whipped cream and blueberries. What would you like to have miss I-already-know-how-to-use-these-impossibly-detailed-menus?"

"I think I'll get nutella and strawberries with chocolate sauce on top. I'll get us a table while you order, okay?"

Toshiro nodded and went to stand in front of the counter to make their orders. Karin sat down at one of the tables and waited for Toshiro to come join her. When he arrived the two began to discuss what they had heard about the recent soccer games in the world of the living. (1)

Pretty soon their crepes were brought over and the couple was able to start eating. Toshiro found he was surprisingly happy with the mix of whipped cream and blueberries while Karin already knew she would love her's.

As Karin took another bite Toshiro saw she got some nutella on her cheek and had to point it out to her. Once she wiped it off she noticed a blob of whipped cream on Toshiro's plate and ate it too.

"Hey!"

Karin looked up in confusion for a moment which quickly shifted to understanding. Reaching down she ripped off a piece of her crepe and held it out for Toshiro.

She was quickly met with disbelief and annoyance.

"Hurry up, I'm not going to just keep my hand out here all day."

"Thanks." Toshiro found that the nutella and strawberries made a flavorful mix that suited Karin perfectly. Dashes of red passion mixed in with the less colorful mask she always presented herself with. Speaking of which…

"You're wearing a lot of red today." Karin looked down at her outfit and shrugged. (2) The red shoes had obviously been chosen by Yuzu because of the red bow around her ankles which kept the flats on. Her wrists showed a long-sleeved red undershirt when they weren't hidden by the sleeves of the dark purple kimono and there was a red necklace hanging over her chest.

"Oh, yeah. Well… you said you thought I would look good in red when I asked you so on the shopping trip I had the others helped me get a bunch. How do I look?"

"Since when are you one to care about appearance?" Toshiro asked because he wasn't sure he would actually be able to tell her what he thought of her outfit without becoming too embarrassed. Sometimes he thought becoming a captain had been less stressful than being in a relationship.

"I just want to make sure I'm not walking around here looking like an idiot."

"I guess, I mean… I think you look cute but I'm not any kind of fashion expert. If you want a professional opinion you should ask Matsumoto."

"Nah, I think I'll just trust yours for now." As Karin waved him off she took the last bite of her crepe- though Toshiro was sure there was enough left to make into three bites- and abruptly stood up.

"What?"

"I just remembered that tomorrow Ichi-nii wants me to join him at a stuck up noble event for the Shiba's and their partners! All of the allied families are supposed to be there and I, apparently, need to be on my best behavior." (3)

Toshiro blinked as he considered what that would be like. Karin trying to act like one of the Kuchiki's or as a Shihouin. Not going to happen.

He considered her problem in silence for a moment. "Are you allowed to bring people along?"

Karin turned to him, curiosity evident in her expression. "...yes?" Her answer came out in a way that both answered what Toshiro asked and asked him what that meant.

"I could come along. I doubt they would have any problems with this when I'm both your boyfriend and a captain and I would be able to keep you from getting trapped during a verbal argument."

"Oh yeah, you're good at that sort of thing."

"Though I do have one question, why is… Ichi-nii (4) allowing this? Wasn't he trying his hardest to keep you out of the politics?"

"He was but some of the nobles the family is allied with apparently started to get pushy. Urahara thinks they're trying to get something to use against the family to keep it from gaining power at the rate it currently is."

"Urahara? How is he involved in this?"

"Oh, Hime-nee was able to convince my brother to talk to him about it for advice. Anyways, Urahara said what he should do is have me show up at one event, make a good impression, then disappear to do whatever I want to. It's supposed to remove all suspicion on me and allow me to keep living out my life as your third seat without having to worry about noble stuff."

"It's a good plan. Almost guaranteed to work… if pulled off correctly. I'll go with you."

Karin raised her eyebrows. "So it's not, 'can I go with you' it's 'I'm going with you' now? What happened to my stupidly polite boyfriend?"

"I'm pretty sure there's no way your going to be able to make a good impression without me so you might as well accept it."

"Alright, if you say so. Are we bringing anyone else along?"

"I don't think we should plan to. Too many people will make it obvious you're uncomfortable and using your companions as shields, it will just make them push to get answers directly from you. Then again, if Matsumoto finds out I'm not sure there's anything we can do to stop her from coming along. If that happens I'll be sure she's on her best behavior."

"Thanks, love you Shiro." Karin began walking out of the door and Toshiro caught up to her within seconds.

"Is there something you want to do now to get ready? I'm mostly free now so I can help before I get a head start on paperwork for tomorrow."

"I already have an outfit from Uryu- he made it himself apparently (5)- so I don't think I need anything for that."

"Do you have any accessories? I'm pretty sure nobles are expected to come fully dressed up with jewelry included."

"Oh, no. I guess we can go get that. Any ideas?"

After pausing for a second Toshiro answered, "How about a red clip to put into your hair."

"You really like how I look in red, huh."

Blushing, Toshiro found that for all his ability to play mind games he couldn't come up with a decent answer to what she said.

"Well, whatever. Will you be buying that clip for me?"

"I-that… I'd be happy to, I guess." Karin smirked at his stuttered answer, the fact that she was able to constantly make the ice captain react this way was something she was very proud of.

* * *

In the Seireitei there were many different shops and stalls for all the local souls. A majority of them were food, as Shinigami constantly needed to eat, but clothing and jewelry were not far behind. As the self-proclaimed queen of shopping in the Gotei Thirteen Matsumoto was easily able to list a dozen different shops where Toshiro and Karin could get what they were looking for.

In the end Toshiro had to stop Matsumoto from listing the different shops and got her to pick one for them to look at. They couldn't spend all day shopping if Toshiro wanted to get more of his paperwork done.

The shop the couple ended up at wasn't too cutesy or childish but was also obscure enough that nobles didn't spend much time around it. The shop was slightly farther away than they had expected, located in a more dangerous neighborhood (not that such a thing would matter to a Shinigami captain and third seat).

Karin walked to the door and pulled it open, stepping inside to look at the display case. Suddenly she was very happy Matsumoto had recommended this one.

While she wasn't a fan of jewelry by any margin Karin was able to appreciate the goods being shown through the glass. The designs were simple, but also beautiful in their coordination.

"Is there something I can help you with, Shinigami?" A woman behind the counter asked while brushing some of her long black hair out of her eyes.

"We're looking for a red hairclip, any suggestions?" Karin asked shortly before Toshiro added more specific information.

"Preferably one that would be appropriate for a meeting between nobles."

The girl tilted her head to the side in thought for a moment, considering, until her eyes abruptly lit up with inspiration.

"I've got just the thing for you." She declared, "hold on for a moment, I'll be right back."

When she came out again she was clutching a deep purple box in her hands. Setting it down on the table, she opened it to reveal a clip with a blood red ruby in the center. It was a round jewel in the shape of an oval surrounded by a silver rope wrapping around it.

Even Karin had to admit it was beautiful, exactly the kind of thing a noble would be expected to wear to something like this.

"What do you think, Karin?"

"I think that'd work out great. It's amazing how this is the first one we're really looking at." Karin always was decisive so that at least made shopping fairly easy.

Toshiro nodded, then turned to the sales clerk. "How much would you like for it?"

"5500 yen please.(6)"

Toshiro instantly moved in front of Karin, to her great confusion.

"That's amazingly cheap. You know, I heard this was a bad neighborhood when my friend recommended it to me. Would you care to explain why this building is so unguarded? I would think people would try to steal from here to resell what they find inside."

The girl's eyes widened, obviously not having expected him to notice. Just as quickly, though, she calmed down and gave a small smile.

"You're very observant. Yes, our shop is a bit unusual. We do try to appear normal on the outside-my guess is that your friend isn't even aware we have a few oddities- but we also have ways to defend ourselves. Would you like to see?"

Toshiro hesitated, unsure of whether to allow the girl to do something he was unaware of. Karin, having gotten frustrated with her boyfriend, pushed him to the side.

"You don't need to protect me like that. I might not be as strong as you but it's not like I can't take care of myself. Besides, I've got full confidence we can deal with anything she might do to us. What's the problem with her explaining why she can live around here?"

Toshiro hesitated for another half-second but caved in, his defences crumbling against Karin.

"Show us." He commanded, as if talking to a subordinate.

The girl smiled and nodded, picking up the clip and slowly resting it in her palm. Pressing down on the jewel caused the stone to change color into an even darker red. Watching the change Toshiro realized the stones properties had also changed, becoming slightly similar to seiki-seiki stone.

The girl allowed her reiatsu to flow into the stone and made it buzz with energy. In the next second some energy was pushed out on one side and formed a blade.

"We tend to disguise weapons in casual objects around us to stay safe. Most of our customers never figure out anything about this but we're able to deal with any potential thieves in this way. The reason why this was so cheap is because it's not all jewel, some of it is carved in or for the kido to work."

Karin noticed the stone had some kido commands carved onto it. Even with her limited knowledge in the subject Karin was able to realize the stone shaped the reishi blade, adding more reiatsu would only cause the blade to become sharper and stronger. It would be the perfect weapon for Karin to use, and she knew it.

"I want that." Karin said, snapping Toshiro out of his observations.

"Karin?"  
"It's perfect. Just the kind of thing I want, it was practically made for me." Toshiro had to admit she was right, he just hadn't expected her to show so much interest in it. The clip really was just the thing for Karin.

"Alright, we'll buy it." Toshiro agreed as he pulled out the requested sum of money. The woman thanked them for coming as they left the shop, Karin carrying a deep purple box in her hands.

"Say, Shiro?" Karin looked back to make sure she had his attention, then continued. "Why did you jump in front of me back at the shop? When you heard the price and got suspicious you moved in front of me, but it's not like I'm incapable of protecting myself. You didn't need to do that."

Toshiro considered that for a moment before a light blush crept up his neck. "I-I guess you might be right… I didn't really need or have any reason to do that, but I think it was just instinct. You might be more important than anything else to me so my natural instinct is to protect you when there's danger."

Karin scowled and raised her eyebrows. "As sweet as that is it might become a problem if that's for natural instinct when we're training or in battle."

"Yes, I know. I'll make sure I'm more conscious about it."

"Good, I don't really need to be protected from most things. Just leave me alone and I'll be fine." Karin held up the box in her hands and inspected it. "Do you think we should ask someone to help me train with this?"

"No. You probably won't be able to get it mastered by tonight with everything else we need to do but we can work on it together at a later time. It could be fun to spend some time practicing with it."

Karin hummed in agreement and dropped the subject. The 10th division barracks were already in sight. The couple slowed their shunpo and began a slow walk back inside.

* * *

(7) Matsumoto smirked as she walked inside the Shiba manor with her captain and third seat. They had tried to keep her from finding out but her sources were better than those of every noble clan except the Shinoin's.

Matsumoto saw her captain shiver slightly and seemingly nothing and knew it was because he felt her joy. That joy usually caused situations which didn't end well for him.

Karin looked adorable, the clip she got at the store Matsumoto recommended was just what she needed to complete her outfit. She would fit right in with all of the nobles who would be present this evening.

The music started in a nice, calming, traditional tune and instantly there were half a dozen men hitting on her. Toshiro sighed and pulled Karin away so they could be by themselves and Karin gladly complied.

They really were perfect for each other.

The men surrounding her seemed nice enough but none of them were at all interesting. Just rich nobles who were looking to buy her off with their inborn money and imaginary charm.

It was at times like this that she missed Gin Ichimaru. He would at least never fail to surprise her in interesting ways.

Though it wasn't a complete waste of time coming. While the men in front of her were the dictionary definition of the word boring her captain and third seat were more than worthy or her attention. Especially with how her captain was awkwardly trying to hold a conversation with Karin without staring at her jewelry and outfit.

He did have a point though, despite never wearing the stuff Karin looked good in fancy outfits and the clip in her hair had obviously been perfectly styled by Orihime.

Matsumoto remembered how originally it had been a joke. Her captain was following after a girl from the world of the living and Matsumoto had thought it would be funny to tease them. As time passed the two got closer and closer, and when Karin died Toshiro began to seriously consider being in a relationship with her.

It was just the icing on the cake to learn that Shiba-taicho, Toshiro's father figure, and Ichigo, who was already practically Toshiro's older brother, would legally become that if they married. Sometimes Matsumoto wondered if the previous soul king had planned it to be that way.

Alright, enough of the boring nobles. Normally she would continue playing around with them for fun but she had more important things to do right now. Matsumoto knew she needed to get a closer look into what was happening between the new couple.

"I'm sorry, but I have to watch over my younger siblings. Maybe next time." Excusing herself from the boys Matsumoto headed to a dessert and snack bar to watch without attracting too much attention. The music kicked up slightly and couples began to dance.

She saw her captain blush, but was quickly able to fight it down. It would never cease to amaze her at how good he was at controlling his emotions, despite his young age. After meeting Karin and learning to relax his angry reactions to being called young also disappeared, leaving one of the only times he actually shows emotion to be when Karin was with him.

Matsumoto watched as, after having calmed down, Toshiro turned to Karin and held out a hand. While she couldn't hear him though the crowd it was fairly obvious to Matsumoto what Toshiro had asked, proven further when Karin smiled and took his hand so they could dance.

As Toshiro spun Karin around on the floor his face took a rare, pleasant expression. He was relaxed and happy for the first time in a while. He had no work to worry about or a division to run or his reputation as a captain to keep up, he simply looked like the teenager he appeared to be.

Once the dancing stopped several big shot nobles came up to the couple to talk with Karin and get to know her. Only Matsumoto, a close friend of Karin, could see the minor flashes of irritation or uncertainty that flickered across her face, but luckily Toshiro was also there. Whenever a noble asked something Karin didn't like Toshiro would answer for her or guide her through the conversation. While they may be good those nobles were far from being able to beat her captain at mind games.

Based on their reiatsu Matsumoto could tell they were getting frustrated at, most likely, the lack of information their conversation with Karin was giving them. Karin and Toshiro's reiatsu pulsed with a calm poise and almost-arrogant confidence stemming that radiated off their bodies.

Out of the corner of her senses Matsumoto felt a Shinigami reiatsu, likely from the second division, heading their way. Toshiro and Karin also noticed it and stopped talking, turning to the direction the intruder was coming from.

With a loud bang the window was slammed open. Obviously this was important, a second division member would never make so much noise otherwise. The man stopped directly in front of Toshiro and knelt down to one knee in their typical over-the-top formal fashion.

"Hitsugaya-taicho. Kyoraku-soutaicho has called for an emergency captain's meeting, all captains are required to attend. Your orders are to meet in the twelfth division basement for a briefing."

In an instant all the emotion disappeared from Toshiro and he turned to the man with a cold expression. "Understood."

Matsumoto clenched her fists and scowled in uncharacteristic worry. If the meeting was important and urgent enough to send a Shinigami rather than a simple hell butterfly then there was an obvious cause for concern.

Karin nodded at Toshiro and watched him leave, then turned to Matsumoto, her eyes asking a silent question Matsumoto didn't know the answer to.

What happened?

* * *

As much as I like to imagine them talking about this I'm afraid I know absolutely nothing about soccer. I probably won't be able to include them playing an actual game or even reference any real teams. Sorry. I know they'd probably play more games together if they were a couple and especially if Toshiro didn't have to go to the world of the living every time he wanted to but I just don't have the skill to make something like that happen.

I'm not actually sure if Shinigami ever wear anything other than their uniforms but I'm also pretty sure we never see them off duty. In a compromise I just put Karin in a kimono that also had some more casual decorations.

I really want to include some of what would have happened after the Thousand Year Blood War. If Ichigo's a Shiba then I would assume once proven innocent the family would be brought back into the Seireitei. Even if Kukaku is still the head I think the hero of Soul Society would still need to show up at a lot of these things so this is just my headcanon. Besides, I think Orihime would be a great, social butterfly there. Exactly the kind of person to bring to these events.

I'd like to think that even if she stopped calling him 'Ichi-nii' that after her brother went through wars and had a strong chance of not coming back alive she wouldn't mind so much. Besides, I like the idea of Toshiro calling Ichigo that.

I'm not actually sure what canon is but here I want Ichigo to become a doctor like his dad. He already grew up in a clinic and fighting probably gave him a lot of knowledge about living bodies (his opponent's weak points). Orihime could be his nurse (and heal with Shun-shun-rikka if things get too bad) and they're a medical family. I also like the idea of Uryu taking over his dad's hospital. I know he might prefer being a fashion designer but I also think being a doctor suits his personality.

This is a little less than 50 dollars. I wanted to make it really cheap- especially if there's a ruby and real silver in it- but I also thought that in Soul Society those minerals might be easier to get. I mean, if everything's made of reishi then surely the kido corps would be able to create minerals out of 'thin air'. It's honestly a little vague how that works in canon but I like my idea so I'm sticking to it.

I've been neglecting Matsumoto a little lately so I decided to write this from her point of view. It also just makes sense to me because she's probably the person who'll try to have the biggest impact on perfecting the captain's romantic life.

Thank you for reading! :)


	13. Chapter 13

Toshiro practically slammed the door to the twelfth division barracks open. Kyoraku-soutaicho had known what Toshiro was going to spend the afternoon doing since he filed a leave of absence request, if this meeting wasn't important enough to call him away from that early Kyoraku would have a lot of explaining to do.

Stepping into line with the other captains Toshiro observed that Urahara, Ichigo and the rest of the group from the world of the living was also present.

Kyoraku stepped forward, uncharacteristically alert and lacking any sign of alcohol near him. A quick sweep across the room confirmed for him that ever captain was present and accounted for.

"A report from the second division has come in about something I have asked them to look into. Due to this information we believe it is highly probable we will soon be facing an organized group who seeks to destroy the Gotei Thirteen."

Silence overcame the room, the Captain Commander's blunt explanation proving this was a matter which needed their attention. Ichigo's scowl deepened and he looked his former-dual wielding mentor in the eyes.

"How likely is it that we're facing the chance of another war?"

Urahara answered this time, his hat covering his eyes in a familiar shadow. "Not likely at all. The group we're suspecting shouldn't have anywhere near the numbers required to make that happen. Only a few elites among a larger number of ordinary soldiers. It would be more accurate to say we're likely facing a terrorist group, and, seeing as how the goal of the Gotei Thirteen is to protect innocent souls, could be just as dangerous."

Ichigo nodded and stepped back slightly in thought while Toshiro's brilliant mind ran through the different implications of the new information.

"Do ya have any other information for us ta go on?" Shinji asked. "With only this there's not much we're going to be able to do."

"As a matter of fact I do!" Urahara pulled his fan in front of his face in an over exaggerated sweeping motion, prompting slight glares from a majority of those present. "After our dear Captain Commander became suspicious of some lack of hollow activity in one section of the Rukongai he sent a team of Shinigami to look for a cause. This cause happened to be several lieutenant level spiritual pressures which had been frequenting the area and scaring the hollows away. The second division was able to get a trace for my beloved twelfth division to inspect and found we have one of those signatures registered in our archives."

"Why would the signature be registered?" Rukia Kuchiki interrupted, knowing very few signatures were labeled in the division's database.

"Because, miss Kuchiki, that one registered signature belongs to a criminal of Soul Society from about one hundred fifty years ago. He is a former member of central forty-six who began trying to raise unrest regarding the noble houses who were not allies of his house. The Gotei Thirteen was able to imprison him but due to his low spiritual pressure he wasn't a great enough concern to be executed and only a small investigation was made when he escaped seventy-eight years ago. I believe the real dangerous part is his ability to convince people."

"Explain." Toshiro commanded. His already frosty eyes had taken on a slight glow from his spiritual pressure. Urahara reached onto a table and held out a stack of papers for Toshiro to look at.

"While Ichigo and everyone else here has been making efforts to improve conditions in the areas farther from the Seireitei that has only been put into effect recently. He has had over seventy years to find children in the Rukongai with high spiritual pressure and convince them to going his side. Once he has their loyalty he can send them into the academy and fill our ranks with people who are completely loyal to him."

Toshiro nodded, having known that was the most likely reason to worry about him. As he was considering the different implications a thought occurred to Isane.

"How do you know they don't have enough to form an army? If they've hidden themselves in our ranks we shouldn't be able to count them, right?"

"It's pretty much impossible that he would consider working with people from the noble families he was allied against and all the ones he used to be allied with were destroyed when it was revealed he had been trying to turn them against the others. The number of students in the past eighty years from the Rukongai who had both some talent for or degree of prior knowledge about the Shinigami arts and also remained completely uninvolved with any noble family is fairly small. Most try to establish connections with them with the hopes of increasing their rank in their squad."

Soi-fon stepped forward, her presence making itself known. "The second division looked through the private records of all academy students from the past eighty years who were able to become seated officers. Any you find strange will be checked to see if they match one of our suspects."

"Can you put together a report on this for us Captains?"

"Of course, I'll have it delivered to you through the hell butterflies as soon as possible. Try to not tell anyone about what you've just learned for now, we're not sure if they have any bugs watching us. I'll inform you when it's safe to tell those you trust most."

Kyoraku stepped forward again, prompting Urahara to step back. "Look through your divisions and see if you can find anyone suspicious or who you have doubts over. Remember the criteria we gave you, send that information to the second division and they'll conduct a full investigation."

Sharp nods and an excited grin (Kenpachi) immediately followed the dismissal before all present captain's shunpo'd to their respective divisions. Those from the world of the living left through a garganta Ichigo created.

Urahara dropped his fake smile in thought. Some captains, like Kenpachi, would immediately tell their trusted seated officers so the paperwork would be looked through. Hopefully that wouldn't be enough for this enemy to learn what they knew. While not a danger by themselves the closeness they had to the Shinigami government would possibly give them an opportunity to kill any lower ranking Shinigami or innocent souls to make their point.

The only thing he could currently do was wait for the captains to get back to him and the second division.

* * *

When Karin looked into the barracks to see if her boyfriend had gotten back from his meeting yet the last thing she expected was for him to be looking through papers with a frantic expression. Well, actually she did expect him to be doing paperwork but she hadn't thought he would be as agitated as his reiatsu told her he was. He didn't seem to be doing any of the normal paperwork anyway.

"Toshiro?"

The ice captain stopped his mad hurry to look up at Karin. She had said Toshiro, not Shiro or any other nickname meant to annoy him. He realized he must look like a mess. No one had told him because he specifically ordered his subordinates to let no one except Karin and Matsumoto inside.

"Karin. Sorry, I'm just a bit busy now. Something happened and it's been completely classified by the Captain Commander for now. I'll tell you about it once we're allowed to." He paused to look around the division for something before scowling and turning to Karin. "Sorry, again. Would you mind helping me look for the academy records of students who we accept into the tenth division?"

After a half-second of hesitation Karin nodded. They were both military officials, the would need to treat each other as commander and subordinate sometimes, it just hadn't happened yet since they had become a couple.

She knew that when their relationship had started, so this was fine.

Karin moved to the back and looked through several files for the right ones as Toshiro sat down at his- now cluttered- desk. She skimmed the labels and soon came across the one she was looking for.

Setting it down on his desk Karin turned to face Toshiro with a worried expression. "These are the one's you were looking for. Do we have any people like Kenpachi or Ichi-nii who are our allies but didn't go through the academy?"

Toshiro shook his head, "The only ones we need to worry about are those who came from the academy. Could you put back all the people who didn't graduate in the last eighty years? They're not relevant."

Karin nodded and they returned to the familiar sound of working together on paperwork. It was becoming more and more of a habit as time went on. Karin frowned harder as she working, her concentration focused more on Toshiro than her work.

Despite him getting angry or yelling when someone referred to him as a child it was rare for him to get like this. This even more cold, emotionless and work-centered side to him only came out when it was truly important… or when someone might die.

Suddenly, Karin realized why only she and Matsumoto were allowed inside. If anyone else saw their strong, near-omnipotent captain so obviously worried about something they would be too. Only her, other powerful Shinigami and Matsumoto always thought of Toshiro as a friend and person who they could help before the god Captains had become in the eyes of the weaker souls.

Karin looked over and felt a flash or irritation ripple through his reiatsu. If she could help him then that was her job for now.

Walking to the side of the room, Karin pulled out a stack of her own paperwork and sat down at another table. She couldn't cook for him like Yuzu but she could at least keep him company for a while to help him calm down.

The two sat in relative silence together, only the sound of paper and their pens against the table in the room. Without knowing what was happening there wasn't too much more she could do than this.

Outside, Karin could hear the other Shinigami training, an occasional sound of swords clashing together the only possible distraction.

"Karin," Toshiro finally spoke, "can I ask you about something?"

Blinking, Karin gave a slow nod and waited for him to continue. "I can't tell you much about this but… we have reason to believe some of our officers have been lying about something. All the captains have been asked to see if they can find anyone suspicious based off certain factors and that's all fine. I just-I feel a bit…"

"Like you're doubting the people you trusted most?" Karin offered and Toshiro gave a small nod. While Toshiro couldn't give her any more information than that she understood what he was going through. Captains may not be familiar with everyone in the squad but they tended to think of the squad as both their responsibility and as an extended family.

Karin frowned as she thought of what to say to him. In all honesty, she wasn't used to him acting this way. She was used to him being an untouchable workaholic who needed to be reminded to take breaks but never needed help with anything like this.

In the end, she decided to state her honest opinion and deal with the consequences later. "I think you have a point but you also need to consider what might happen if you don't. Distrusting them now lets you confirm if they're on your side and if they're not then you'll be able to keep everyone else safe. I think you'll hate yourself more if they were against us and you didn't look into it than if you do and they're uninvolved. Doing this now will keep the other squad members from being hurt."

Toshiro said nothing as he registered Karin's words, taking them to heart. "Thank you Karin."

Karin smiled, glad she was able to help, and continued with her paperwork.

* * *

"Hey Kanna, how're you doing?" Karin asked with a seemingly cheerful attitude as she and Toshiro sat down next to the other girl.

Despite that, Toshiro knew she was faking. Finding out that one of the people she trusted with her life might have lied to her tended to do that. Kanna, however, bought her act and responded back in a similarly cheery mood.

"Good. I'm seeing my brother again today. He wants to talk about clan business and the like, I swear, you got the better deal with a brother who tries to keep you as uninvolved as possible." Karin relaxed slightly at seeing Kanna was exactly the same as she always remembered but still kept a slightly tense edge to her posture and body language.

"Guess that means we can't join you to ease any tension, huh. On the bright side we won't have to listen to Shiro over here talk for hours about political nonsense with him."  
Kanna smiled in a way similar to her teasing one and both girl ignored Toshiro's protests of how 'it wasn't anything resembling nonsense' in the background.

"You've got a point. It might be best if I go to see him alone. How are you two doing?"

"We're both doing well," Toshiro answered, knowing Karin might have trouble lying to her friend so soon after becoming doubtful. "Karin's been feeling a bit jumpy lately but I'm hoping I'll have completely fixed her paranoia soon."

Though it's pretty much impossible that this problem will be solved that easily, he mentally added. Kanna nodded in understanding and didn't pry further, instead choosing to ask about the earlier situation.

"By the way, earlier the guards in front of your office said only Karin and Matsumoto were allowed inside. Did something happen?"

"At the captain's meeting we were given some strictly need-to-know information so I decided to keep anyone from wandering in accidently and finding out something they shouldn't have."

"Ah, is everything alright then?"

This time Karin gave a dismissive wave and answered. "It's perfectly fine. Shiro was just being a worry-wart like usual. Nothing's going to happen for at least a while so there was no reason for him to get so stressed out about it. And then he thinks he has any right to call me paranoid."

Her last comment got a small laugh from Kanna and made Toshiro smile. Good, she'll be able to not attract suspicion. She's feeling better.

Having his fears proven to be unnecessary Toshiro was similarly able to copy Karin and fall back into the usual rhythm of events.

"Would you like for us to wait with you until he arrives?" Kanna looked surprised at Toshiro's offer until he elaborated. "I have some work I can do while we wait so it would really be no trouble."

Kanna thought for a moment, seriously considering the offer, then shook her head. "It's likely he'll want us to talk here. I don't want him to do anything rude when he makes you leave so it would probably be best just to avoid that. I'll be fine, you don't need to worry."

Toshiro and Karin nodded, leaving her. They returned to the division and split up, leading Karin to instantly be surrounded by a group of lower seated officers who would be best described as her and Toshiro's… admirers.

Because that's really what they are. The group of girls looked up to Karin with awe and respect despite knowing very little about her. They found her refusal to be broken by the rules and expectations of noble houses extremely admirable, most coming from lower noble houses themselves.

Toshiro was added into their admiration when the two began dating. The fact that the two of them were able to and unafraid of joining together in a relationship not organized by the clan head left most of them in awe. Toshiro didn't mind it as long as they didn't interfere with his work, especially because it promoted independent thought for his squad members.

"Yes…?"

One of the girls looked at Karin slightly star-struck while trying to muster up the courage to speak. It sometimes amazed Karin that those girls admired her for not bending to authority when she was pretty much raised to be like that from day one.

"Kurosaki-san, is it true that you went to a noble dance but your date was allowed to leave before his clan head?"

"He was called to a captain's meeting but… I guess so." Her response caused the girls to look at each other in excitement. Karin was a bit confused, it shouldn't be too surprising considering how relaxed the Shiba clan was on rules compared to the others… right?

"Did you get punished for it?" Another girl asked and Karin shook her head.

"It was for a captain's meeting. I'm pretty sure none of the noble clans have the authority to stop him from leaving. Especially since this one was ordered by the captain commander."

Eyes widened and Karin realized that may have not been the right thing to say. While Toshiro didn't mind it the girls really got on her nerves for worshiping her but lacking the courage to do something themselves most of the time. Toshiro had forbidden her from taking her anger out on the nearby property though, so her only option was to run.

"Sorry but I'm afraid I'll have to get going. I have some training to do, have fun without me!" Without another work Karin shunpo'd off. Her fan club reminded her of the kids who used to follow her around and play soccer with her back when she was a kid. While that wasn't bad it did tend to get annoying at times… or all the time.

As she landed in a mostly deserted part of the training field Karin debated what she should practice. She hadn't really thought that through when she left but the idea came to her as she ran a frustrated hand through her hair and felt her clip.

Karin pulled the clip out of her hair and held it infront of her face to get a better look. She had decided to wear it more often, having grown pretty fond of the accessory. While she didn't fully understand how to use it there was no better time to learn than the present.

With a pulse of her reiatsu the reishi blade formed, glowing slightly despite the area around her already being lit from the sun. Probably wasn't the best weapon to use for stealth then.

Good thing that wasn't Karin's style.

Another swing and Karin was able to get into a good rhythm for practice. She had seen the stealth squad and/or Yoruichi in action enough times to get a general feel for using a smaller blade. Now she just had to figure out how to make that into her own style.

Soon she found she was comfortable with small slashes but not as much with the pokes or jabs. It would take some practice but she was confident that soon she would be able to get a good handle on switching her grip on the blade mid-air.

Another cool new discovery was that the blade would grow slightly in length when more spiritual pressure was added but wouldn't shrink past a certain point as long as spiritual pressure kept being supplied.

Must be to keep you from forgetting about putting a good amount of reishi into the blade, Karin realized.

The reishi blade didn't take much energy to keep it running so Karin was able to practice for about an hour and a half before deciding she had become too tired to keep going. The sun was still high in the sky, making the surrounding area bright for training- and also very, very hot.

Slipping her clip back into her hair Karin entered her boyfriend's office with the hopes of cooling down. He was, as always, up to his neck in paperwork and only paying enough attention to his surroundings so that he wouldn't get sneak attacked.

Taking a deep breath Karin got an appropriate amount of air into her lungs and cupped her mouth with her hands.

"SHIRO!"

Karin smirked as Toshiro jumped out of his chair and instantly got into a fighting stance. He had known she was there, if he chose to not pay attention to her this was no one's fault but his own.

Or that's how Karin interpreted the situation.

Toshiro looked up to her with an expression that all at once said I-can't-believe-you-just-did-that-what's-wrong-with-you-prepare-to-die and also took her despite-what-you-just-did-I'm-happy-to-see-you-again-and-know-how-to-put-up-and-deal-with-your-stupidity.

His expressions were pretty impressive. Karin wanted to be able to do that but instead use emotions that would leave anyone who saw running for the hills.

"...yes, Karin? Is there something I can help you with?" He finally asked while sending her a glare which would have made any lower seated officers turn pale.

"I got hot while training, the pin works awesome by the way, and I was hoping you wouldn't mind cooling me off. It's just that you were so distracted by your paperwork I felt I had to do something to get your attention."

Toshiro studied Karin's smirk and once again questioned why he found the life in her eyes so endearing. Then he saw the fearlessness and energy behind your expression and remembered why.

"Alright, I guess you could have been doing worse things with your time than practicing."

"Actually I wasn't at first but some girls came and they started annoying me so I decided to leave."

Toshiro was suddenly very worried. "You… didn't destroy anything or mortally injure them, right?"

Karin raised her eyebrows in an exasperated manner. "No, I didn't do anything to them. I know what I should and shouldn't do, Shiro."

"Good. At least you don't take after you brother in that regard."

Karin took in a relaxed breath and smiled as she felt the temperature in the room rapidly decrease. It was as nice as always to feel the real-world effects of her boyfriend's spiritual pressure.

Toshiro also smiled at Karin's reaction. He preferred the cooler air anyways and only kept the room warmer for when other people had to come in for reports.

Besides, it was nice to let his spiritual pressure go every once in awhile. While he used to do that every time he got annoyed once he started playing soccer with Karin and learning how to relax it became a rarity. Once Karin joined him in Soul Society those events became almost non-existent.

"Karin," Toshiro said, interrupting the silence.

"Hm?"

"Thanks for being here."

"Of course. You'd overwork yourself without me."

* * *

"Welcome back, brother."

Takahiro gave a nod to Kanna as he sat down, pulling out several papers onto a nearby stone and stacking them. A quick glance confirmed for Kanna that these were records on the money transfers for the clan.

"Kanna, has anything happened?" Kanna's reiatsu gave a startled spike at the sudden question and she was left for several seconds with no answer.

"...No, why do you ask?"

"You seem a bit less focused lately. Is something going to get in the way of your work? If you need to spend some time away from the division I'm sure I can arrange something with your captain."

Kanna immediately knew what her brother was referring to. Him getting involved was also something she did not want with every fiber of her being.

"No! No, it's fine." She corrected, "I've been a bit worried about settling in at the beginning but the Captain and Kurosaki were able to help me fit in. There should be no concerns from that."

A pause came from Takahiro that weighed heavily on his sister. "...I see. I'm glad you're fitting in and able to relax but I suggest you make sure not to forget the reason I let you join the squads."

"Of course Takahiro-nii. I'll be careful."

(1)Her brother was silent for a moment until he relaxed and pulled out more papers and began running through the money accounts with her so she could sign them.

* * *

 _I'm basing his behavior here a little after how Byakuya was at the beginning. He was supposed to be the cliche for noblemen so it would make sense for another clan head to have similar personality quirks. (Super unemotional and uncaring about family.)_

 _Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review!_

 _End of Part 2_


	14. Chapter 14

A bright ray of sunlight annoyed Toshiro as he began to once again look over papers. Apparently there were a lot more academy students who might fit the criteria than he originally realized.

Unfortunately, some people had noticed and started questioning why every captain was swamped with paperwork recently. Toshiro thought he had heard several rumors and theories drifting through his squad in the few times he left his office.

"Captain, are you sure you're okay?" Matsumoto asked yet again. Normally she couldn't care less about paperwork and would disappear at the mere sight of it, but her captain normally demanded that she do her fair share.

Instead he had explicitly stated she was not to get involved and to leave it all to him. All the lieutenants were told that by their captains. Even Captain Commander Kyoraku was doing some of the paperwork.

Only due to knowing him so well Matsumoto could tell her captain was getting tired. Tired and frustrated and annoyed at what she assumed to be a surprising lack of progress. She saw (1) Hitsugaya-taicho's hand twitch, tempted to reach up and rub his temple, but stopped so he could continue to concentrate.

"I'm fine Matsumoto… this is just taking longer than I thought it would." The moment his icy turquoise eyes met her light blue ones she realized he was telling the truth. "I'm sure you can find something to do without me, try not to make too big of a mess."

"...Yes sir…" If he noticed the hesitation in her voice he didn't comment on it. Another half second of hesitation later and she closed the door, leaving him alone.

Despite what he said, Matsumoto wasn't able to find anything she could do without her thoughts drifting back to her Captain. The only problem was he wouldn't let her help him, and his higher authority kept her from the option of commanding him to join her. She also had to consider that only she and Karin had been allowed in his office so that no one could see how the apparently futile work he was doing was worrying him.

She walked by her desk, layered with unfinished paperwork and reports to turn in (1). Giving the papers a quick glance as she walked by led to a specific name catching her eye.

9/23 - 9/28 20XX

Shinigami: Third Seat Karin Kurosaki

Objective: Complete a survey of all squad members in the Okinawa area. Report should include names, jobs and reported discovered hollows. Report should include any additions or removals this officer makes to the team…

The paper rattled on and on about specific information on that subject but that wasn't the part that mattered. The part that was important was the fact that Karin would be returning from her mission today. If anyone could snap her captain out of his habits involving overworking himself it would be his girlfriend.

As she thought about her plan she couldn't help but smile. The two really were adorable together, them being her superior and co worker was not a factor. When they had first met on her and her Captain's mission to the world of the living it had been a surprise to see him show any interest in a human girl- going as far as to agree to play soccer with her. Now that she had seen the kind of chemistry they had it all made sense.

While Hitsugaya-taicho was probably one of the only people who could actually make Karin interested in something Karin was the only one who could get Hitsugaya-taicho to have fun. Taicho was willing to explain why those jobs needed to be done and had the patience to teach Karin on anything she was interested in. Within a week of meeting him-even when Karin was still human- she had gotten him to take part in a soccer game for the first time. Even when Momo (2) tried to get Hitsugaya-taicho to have fun he was always taking part unwillingly.

In all honesty, the two needed each other to function perfectly and the division needed all three of them (with her social abilities allowing both of them to understand their fellow squad members) to really work.

So the only problem she still had to worry about was whether getting Hitsugaya-taicho to relax was the right thing to do. All the Captains were focused on something that was obviously important, would trying to distract him end badly?

Then Matsumoto remembered all the times Karin was able to get him to relax but they still finished all the work. The times Karin would enter the office and sit next to him, not interrupting or being as sarcastic as usual-just letting him know she was there if he needed anything.

And just like that Matsumoto realized she had been worrying over nothing. Hitsugaya-taicho would be just fine with Karin, like she thought, they needed each other. And they needed her to realize that for themselves.

"Hey, Orika!" Matsumoto called to higher seated member. Said girl immediately went to Matsumoto's side and blinked in confusion.

"Can I help you with something, Lieutenant Matsumoto?"

"Could you please spread the work that I want third seat Ka-Kurosaki to meet up with me when she gets back from her mission?"

Orika nodded happily and walked off while Matsumoto sighed. It was a division rule that she had to call Karin 'third seat Kurosaki' because when Karin's fan club started calling both Karin and Hitsugaya-Taicho by their first names with no honorifics he decided that only people Matsumoto trusted could hear her call either of them by their first names.

The fact that he was willing to let them be called by their first names was obviously the result of Karin's influence on him.

Matsumoto pulled out one of the mirrors at her desk and fixed her hair, making sure she looked flawless for the rest of her day. While she didn't mind fighting and working hard at something it was so much nicer when she could look good too.

A quick glance at the clock told her only about ten minutes had passed, it would likely be awhile before Karin returned. So, what to do until then.

With a smirk Matsumoto pulled out her secret how-to-get-Karin-with-Hitsugaya-taicho log. It had been a few days since she last updated it, giving it some more information would be a good use of her time. Besides, this was much more important than any of the paperwork Hitsugaya-taicho wanted her to do, so it made sense to handle it first.

9/28

Taicho is overworking himself again! It really should be physically impossible to do that as often as he does but somehow he manages. It's probably a mix of Karin having been gone these past five days and whatever it is that has all the captains so busy.

None of the lower ranked members know about this but all us Lieutenants are worried about how our Captains seem stressed. So, this current operation is help-taicho-relax-using-Karin!

Karin is coming back today and as soon as she does she'll be sent to me. Orika will make sure to spread the word that I want to speak with her. Once she does all I need to do is convince her to join Hitsugaya-taicho and help him relax. I don't know how she does it but if she knows her presence will help him calm down then I'm sure she'll agree.

That part's pretty simple, I'll be leaving most of the work up to Karin when it happens. Side note, she's still wearing the clip captain got her so that plan was definitely a success. More like it must come in the future.

Anyways, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't appreciate it if I gave them romantic music (which makes no sense, it would make every romantic moment they had together perfect). Maybe it would be okay if I used firewor-

Wait no, I already used those, we shouldn't keep using the same thing.

The next best idea might be some food for both of them but Taicho only likes really boring old-people food (though as Shinigami age is kind of relative).

And there's no way I can trust either of them to figure this out on their own, they may have their moments but neither of them has a single romantic bone in their bodies. (Souls?)

The next best plan is helping taicho with his work so they can spend time together. But I both don't really want to and don't think he'll let me so we're back to square one for this.

Another point I should probably consider is how this will impact me if I get found out. Taicho might try to kill me with paperwork while Karin actually tries to kill me. That or we'll have the worst case scenario and they'll work together to try to get back at me.

It seems my number one priority is to not get found out! No, wait, first it's get them together… but they're already together. I'm too used to them not being together and my trying to get that to happen, it seems.

Okay first it's to help Taicho relax, then to let Taicho finish his work, then to not get found out, then to make sure Karin still has fun.

I should probably also get the two of them a please-forgive-me-present in case they do find me out. If that happens maybe they won't be as mad since I'm trying to help taicho relax and I get them a present.

That or taicho will freeze me to the floor for an hour and go destroy my sake…

Let's just hope for the best!

One big question is what sort of presents they'd want. Maybe some sort of watermelon treat? Karin already took him out to a fair before they became a couple. What did they do there that I could help them do together?

Maybe I could get them a sculpture of the two of them! I can't make one but Orihime-chan probably would be able to give me some advice on the matter. Okay, that settles it, I'll get out of getting in trouble if (well, maybe it's more like when) they find me by giving them a sculpture.

Another thing I should probably be concerned over is how to get them together. I may have gotten too worried about being punished and not remembered that part.

Karin will be here any second now, there's not much I can say to get her to join taicho. I know she's going to be worried about him but when it comes to admitting that to other people she sometimes gets too stubborn and won't acknowledge it. It might be easiest if I find some way to trick her into joining him.

Maybe I could tell her taicho wants to see her because he's stressed!

No, she knows him too well to ever believe he would ask me to send her for a reason like that. But she also might even get annoyed by him and not come at all if I make it seem like it's an order for another reason.

Oh, I should tell her that I'm worried about taicho since he won't come out and want to give him a cup of tea but also don't want him to threaten the bar owners to keep me out. That'll work perfectly because making him more calm will already be in her mind, she'll already have tea and I can lock the door as soon as she gets in. I'm pretty sure there's a desk I can put in front of the door to keep her inside.

Taicho won't let her destroy his division door so Karin's going to have to wait until I open the door for him. If I yell that I'm going to keep the door closed for two hours he should wait at least that long until he get's annoyed and breaks it open.

I really hope they like the sculpture.

Well, no reason to hesitate! I can only try and hope I won't fail!

Now that I think about it I should probably also figure out how to keep the desk from moving once I put it there, it probably can't hold if Karin get's angry. I don't know enough kido to be sure what I try will work.

Pausing in her writing, Matsumoto dawned a contemplative look and brought the pen to her chin as she sat in thought.

Maybe I can ask Isane and Nanao for help. No, scratch that, Isane's busy at the fourth but Nanao should be able to help…

If she doesn't get too mad at me for trying to set taicho up with Karin. Though she ships them too so it shouldn't be too big of a hurdle to cross.

Okay, plan set. I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can to this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can to this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can to this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can to this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can to this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can to this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this

Let's hope taicho either doesn't notice me or doesn't care or likes the sculpture enough to convince Karin it's all fine.

I can only hope. Nanao should be free now, there should be enough time for me to go check up on her and see if we can talk about some sort of sticking kido.

So, for all that I stand for, getting taicho and Karin together, I am willing to lay down my life to complete this task!

Quietly, Matsumoto imitated a frightened mouse, sneakily putting away her how-to-get-Karin-with-Hitsugaya-taicho log and heading to Nanao's office.

* * *

Nanao stifled a sigh when she noticed her friend Rangiku heading her way. Close as they may be and as much as Nanao could rely on her in battle the other woman did not help her finish her work. At best she could be a distracting influence on all the shinigami around her.

"Yes, Rangiku-fukutaicho?" (4) A pen was slowly set down on the table and she stared at her fellow Lieutenant with raised eyebrows and annoyed eyes. "Is there something I can help you with? We're both still on work hours so I'm afraid I won't be able to spend much time socializing."

"But it's important!" Matsumoto whined, imitating a human child despite being over two-hundred years old to date. "Don't worry about it, Kyoraku-soutaicho agrees with me that this subject is super important!"

"That is not a positive description nor one I have much faith in. Is this about drinking?" The guess was, while currently inaccurate, not unexpected and very likely given the woman's usual troubles and circumstances.

"Of course not! It's much more important! How could you ever think that?!"

Clearly, she disagreed.

Reluctantly, Nanao took a deep breath and met Matsumoto's eyes, waiting for an explanation. "Then, do tell, what is it that has you so worried? Did you do something to make Hitsugaya-taicho mad again?"

"No! Why do you always think the worst of me!?"

"...Really? You've never given me any reason to be worried about something like that? Are you completely sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Matsumoto lied unremorsefully, "Anyways, it's not even really about me. It's about him and Karin!"

Suddenly Matsumoto had her full attention. By now it was common knowledge they were dating, including to Nanao. There was less than no chance she would be sad if that couple was forced to split up.

"Explain." Flinching slightly at the tone which sounded far too much like a military command Matsumoto complied with the given 'order'.

"Hitsugaya-taicho's been overworking himself lately for whatever secret project the captains are working on and I want him to feel better. Karin should be coming back from her mission today so I have a plan of locking them together in his room but I need to find a kido that will keep the desk I put in front of the door there until she helps him relax!"

Sending a small but still noticeable glance at her pile of unfinished paperwork Nanao considered her options. On one hand she liked the idea of the two younger shinigami working together but on the other she really needed to get her work done. Then again, having the prodigy captain relax and work more effectively probably outweighed her work in terms of importance.

"Alright, I can help you with that." A screech echoed in the mostly-silent office as Nanao scooted her chair back and stood up. Matsumoto's expression shifted from nervous and anticipating to outright overjoyed when she saw her friend give in.

Giving an excited leap Matsumoto reached over to grab Nanao's hand and pull her along when she suddenly found the woman's hand in her face.

"But… I will only agree to this if you promise you'll leave me alone to finish my work and won't come asking me to save you when Hitsugaya-taicho and third-seat Kurosaki inevitably find out about what you're planning."

It took several seconds for Matsumoto to answer but eventually she was able to come out with a small, "...I only promise to try."

For one second Nanao was outraged, then for another she was thoughtful until she transitioned to begrudging accepting and nodded her head.

"That's the best I'm going to get out of you, isn't it."

There was no answer. Feeling a headache coming on, Nanao rubbed her forehead in a way that mimicked the behavior of Toshiro in regards to his Lieutenant, she just had that sort of effect on people like them.

"Alright, let's hurry and get started. We should head over to the training ground to be sure it goes well in case of an accident."

"Kay~!" Ignoring the other girl's response Nanao simply started walking to the training grounds without looking back.

* * *

The moment she left the inside of the barracks Nanao had shunpo'd to the training ground. While there were a handful of shinigami currently present they were few and far between, leaving enough space for some kido experimentation.

"Do you have any idea of what kind of kido you want me to teach you? You can use most types so this is a bit of a surprising request."

A large (overly) dramatic sigh from Matsumoto attracted both Nanao's attention and a strong sense of amusement. "I know, I know. The biggest problem is I couldn't figure out which one I should use. Taicho could probably get out of most kido I use in and instant and anything too weak will just be destroyed by Karin."

"What about Bakudo Thirty-eight then?"

"...What about it?" Nanao sighed and rubbed her temples in exhaustion. While she knew Matsumoto was intelligent and more than capable of solving these concerns herself her laziness could rival Kyoraku's and she greatly prefered having things explained to her. Only in times of actual danger and importance would she show any of her true capabilities.

So annoying.

"You're right that it originally doesn't make much sense. That kido is usually used to bind people to a certain area but there's no reason it can't be used to bind something else. It creates beams of light to pin a target to a surface, if you aim it correctly you should be able to get the table to be 'nailed' into the floor."

"Oooooooohhhh! That makes sense! I would have thought you'd use one of the rope bakudo's instead but that should work just as well."

"Your captain would probably expect a rope bakudo and try to disable one of them, even if he couldn't see which one it is since all kido feels about the same when sensing reiatsu. You need to be creative if you expect something like this to work."

"I know, I know, thanks!" Just as Matsumoto began running off, happy with the information she got, Nanao realized she had one more reminder to give and shouted at the woman's shrinking form in the distance.

"Don't forget to practice! You need to have perfect aim for this to work! Try it out a few times!"

The only response she got in exchange was a slight nod before the Tenth Division Lieutenant disappeared in a flicker of shunpo.

Within ten seconds she re-appeared on near her division grounds, an excited smirk on her face. A girl she recognized was walking in front of her, leading her to call out.

"Orika! Is Ka- Kurosaki back yet?" Hopefully Taicho would let her go back to calling their third seat 'Karin' in public as soon as the fan club died down slightly.

"I heard she just checked into the first division to discuss a discovery made with Kyoraku-soutaicho, she should be down in under an hour. Lira told her she was wanted in Hitsugaya-taicho's office as soon as she returned."

"Thanks!" Only a little time left, she had to get started. Matsumoto pulled out one of the spare desks from the division storage room and lifted her arms up, her concentration centered on the desk at a field near the division.

One deep breath in, one deep breath out.

"Bakudo no San Shi, Shtotsu Sansen!"

One of the beams misfired slightly and didn't hit the table but the other two landed on mark. A quick test proved it would keep the table in place for as long as she needed it.

Just a few more tries and se would have the move completely down. A childish but honestly cheerful grin broke out on her face as she pushed a beautiful but annoying lock of hair behind her head.

"Perfect."

* * *

1) I'm calling him Hitsugaya-taicho because this section is a bit more from Matsumoto's perspective so it just made sense to me. Don't worry, I won't keep doing this for the rest of the story, I just wanted to change it for now. Hope no one gets bothered by this!

2) I have no idea if she has her desk in a different room than Toshiro but for this chapter let's just say that she either has another desk or it's in a different room. We don't ever get a direct answer to this in canon (I think) so there shouldn't be any problem with me making this up.

3) In know this is terrible of me but I'm not a huge fan of Momo. It's not that I have anything against psychological abuse victims but I find the way she always treats Toshiro as a kid to be annoying. It's also part of the reason I don't ship them, they're way too much like siblings. Still, Toshiro doesn't seem to like most of the things she wants to do with him or take part in any willingly. Momo annoys me because she still keeps trying to do the same things and doesn't consider that Toshiro might feel differently about people or activities. See more on this with Enmity by AzarDarkstar.

4) So I don't actually remember if Nanao calls Rangiku by her first name but for now I'll just say she does. I'm actually pretty sure she doesn't but I figure if they went through wars together I can take artistic license and say they've gotten closer. Why not, it won't be a big part of the story anyways so I don't think it really matters.

5) I appreciate your reviews sultryvoice and SailorStar9 and everyone else, thanks!

6) Thanks for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

"Shiro?"

When looking through hundreds to thousands of papers all at once one tends to get lost in their own little world. He might have not even noticed the ice that had formed around his chair as a result of his reioka. As such, it was completely understandable that Toshiro didn't notice Karin coming until she called out to him-even if he'll forever deny he gave a startled jump at her voice.

He looked over the mountains of paper on his desk and made eye contact with his third seat and girlfriend as she crept into the room.

"Karin? Why are you here, I know I haven't prohibited your presence but I told everyone else to leave me alone. I'm a bit busy."

"What, so you don't want my company? That hurts Shiro, it really does." She moved in front of his desk, neither one noticing the door silently sliding closed behind her. "I just got back from my mission and wanted to see you."

"Really?" Despite the sarcastic edge to it Toshiro spoke the word with a strong sense of fondness in his tone. Though he may think otherwise it was a definite fact he was working too hard, getting to talk to someone in this way made him relax instantaneously.

"No, not really." Karin admitted, "I mean that was obviously part of it but Matsumoto said you wanted to see me and that I was supposed to make you some tea. So, what gives? You usually just send a hell butterfly, Matsumoto can't exactly do her work if she's off running simple errands for you and you never call me over for just tea. You doing alright?"

Toshiro completely froze in thought as he paused, considering. His lack of movement suddenly reminded Karin of one of the victims of his bankai after he flash freezes everything in sight. Still, unresponsive, but with a sense of ethereal beauty left over from the sight of his unstoppable, unexplainable power.

And she will not hesitate to gut anyone who dares imply she thought of Toshiro as beautiful.

"Toshiro?"

"I… never told her to bring you here." Karin instantly realized why he was so worried. While a slightly immature troublemaker, Matsumoto would never be satisfied with just something like this. Telling her to come to their captain's office could only be the prelude to a huge reveal.

Spinning on her heal Karin marched toward the door and tried to force it open, quickly realizing that she was locked in. A loud sudden clang echoed through the room as Toshiro's chair hit the floor, a dangerous expression on his face.

The walls for all divisions were defended with kido after a sparring match in the eleventh division destroyed the area one too many times for the former Captain Commander to accept. While they could force it open, the amount of power required would also leave their nearby subordinates and the division in its entirety heavily injured or possibly dead.

Silently, Karin watched as Toshiro cast a complicated bit of kido meant to destroy any roped made with kido near the door, only to find the door was still locked. Karin took a step back then thrust herself toward the door, giving it a hard kick but also confirming they couldn't easily break out. Just then, a note was slipped under the door from Matsumoto.

Hey Taicho, Karin!

Sorry but I was worried about you Taicho and I thought Karin would be the perfect person to cheer you up. Don't worry, I'll let the two of you out as soon as I get back from having some sake with Renji and the others so please just wait until then~

I'm sure you'll do great Karin, he just needs to relax a little and everything will be fine. I sent you to give him tea so you already know what to do. The tea is in the third cabinet on my desk and the cups are hidden underneath my chair.

Relax, have fun! Everyone knows you both are overworking yourselves recently. I promise, everything will be fine. Try not to cause too big a mess if you two decide to spend your time relaxing through getting physical with one another. I'll not help you with Ichigo if that happens Taicho, sorry. Also, please don't kill me when I let you out.

Yours truly and your beloved amazing fukutaicho,

Rangiku! :)

Several seconds of silence passed as Toshiro and Karin began to digest the information they were just given. In the next second Toshiro's control over his reiatsu lessened and the tension spiked.

To Karin's surprise he didn't immediately start yelling at his fukutaicho's note and throw it to the ground. Even if he rarely did that anymore it was still an understandable response to the note they had received.

Instead, Toshiro slowly tore the note in half and threw it into his recycling, then turned to face Karin. She had to admit that his complete silence and lack of obvious anger was starting to make her uncomfortable.

"...Shiro?... You doing alright or do I need to try to break us out so that you can get some medical attention." Karin asked hesitantly. The ice beginning to form around the captain's feet proved he wasn't as calm as his outward appearance suggested.

"Karin." She couldn't help but give a small snap of attention when he said her name. Even if he was (technically) her superior officer they had never treated each other as such.

"...Yeah?"

"How long do you think it would take me to freeze all the alcohol in Soul Society if I put my mind to it? My guess is about two days, if you distract her for that long…" He suddenly trailed off and continue mumbling his plan to himself.

"In all of Soul Society? There's no way you can get all the stuff that's in the Ryukongai-" Her disbelief was cut off, however, when his mumbling got louder.

"No, then she can just sneak off to the human world and there's a chance she's hidden some in Hueco Mundo. Though I'm not sure how long you can keep her occupied for it should be easy to do for a week. In that amount of time I can destroy all the sake and wine in all three worlds no problem."

"Wait, we're doing what now?"

"Getting her to spend her time doing actual work instead of wasting valuable time and resources on a stupid prank like this." He answered with an annoyed glare directed toward the door.

"Of course, because it's not like spending a week and your third seat destroying all the sake in existence is an equally stupid prank."

She smirked when Toshiro couldn't find a way to respond to her point.

"By the way, there's some ice around your chair. It broke when you stood up but you might want to do something about it." For a moment Toshiro looked confused, then a flash of understanding came over his expression.

"Oh, don't worry about that. The fifth seat was here a little while ago and was apparently 'trying to get me to relax' but needless to say it backfired horribly."

"Well, I hope you haven't terrified them to the point where we need to send them to the fourth for therapy and get a new one."

"I'm not that scary."

"Actually, despite how short you are you can pretty easily terrify anyone working under you. It's kind of impressive."

"Except you, apparently." He shook his head and sighed, but he no longer felt a need to sit up unaturally straight. His expression was a mix between a glare to her from the 'short' comment and blushing due to the compliment.

The fifth seat had come into his room, looking torn between trying to help him and running for the hills the entire time. When asked why they were present despite specific orders to not come in the stated that 'Matsumoto-fukutaicho said I should try to help you relax.'

That had not gone over well.

Their several attempts including (terrible) tea, a (distracting) lullaby and an (impossible) offer to help ended with Toshiro finally snapping and making them run away- ice forming at their legs.

And despite that Karin had been able to make him relax not even a full minute after joining him. If Matsumoto even caught wind of that fact he would overwork her until she was too tired to do anything with that information.

"So, how are you doing? That looks like a lot of work to be handling on your own, you sure you can do it?"

"I'll be fine. I have it completely under control." Her subsequent bright smile gave Toshiro an unhealthy level of dread.

"Really, 'cause it seems to me more like you're frustrated with yourself at your lack of progress. You can't be perfect Toshiro, it's okay to not figure everything out immediately, especially if this is stumping the other captains just as much as you." Sometimes Toshiro forgot how perceptive she could be when it came to something she cared about.

After a moment's hesitation he caved, there were worse people he could be explaining this to. "We have… a bit of a problem. Since there's a chance some members of our squads are traitors we need to work even harder to figure out who it is."

"Because you don't like the idea of not trusting them and want to confirm who you can finally relax around."

"Something like that. It's just that none of us like the idea of researching our subordinates and removing some of their privacy in this way."

"Well, Soul Society's a dictatorship, not a democracy."

"...If the spirit king actually did anything."

"Whatever, central forty-six fills that role just fine with all their laws. It wouldn't be such a big deal if they were elected officials from every district but no, they're just a bunch of nobles who don't know anything except what they want to."

"They have their priorities but it's not that bad." Karin leveled Toshiro with an expression which made him cringe. This was a topic she had brought up with Toshiro quite a lot, wanting Soul Society to adopt a government more similar to ones from the current world of the living.

Whenever she did Toshiro tried to calm her because the reason the noble families were in charge in central forty-six was because their money pretty much ran Soul Society's economy. It was like how only rich people could become elected officials in the world of the living but Karin obviously disagreed.

"At the very least they shouldn't get to make military decisions without first learning something about the subject."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Toshiro trailed off as he picked up a paper again which made him frown. He couldn't do anything without first getting proof but he really didn't like the idea of looking into Kanna. The girl had won over both Karin and Toshiro's friendship, making him feel wrong for doubting her.

"Shiro," Karin's unusually placid tone caught his attention instantly. "What do you want now? What's your goal?"

He blinked in confusion and was about to question her health when she sent him a glare that clearly said shut-up-and-just-answer-the-question.

"I guess… I definitely want to help my squad. I mean, when I first entered the Shinigami academy it was all about becoming strong enough to control my power but then I became captain and it transitioned more to protecting everyone who thought of me as their leader in the squads. And there's the people I'm closest to like you and Matsumoto…"

"Aw, how cute. So I'm one of the people you really want to protect? You're becoming more and more like Ichigo every day."

The temperature of the room dropped several dozen degrees.

"But anyways," Karin smiled and Toshiro allowed the air to become slightly warmer, "This isn't as complicated as you're making it out to be. What you want to do it protect all of us, and you'll be doing that by looking into whatever you're doing for this whole traitor thing. I know some people probably wouldn't like it but you don't need to feel ashamed, you're only acting to accomplish your goals."

Toshiro's eyes widened and he looked down at the paper again, but this time without the shame he had previously.

"Yeah… thanks, Karin."

Karin couldn't help rolling her eyes when she saw her boyfriend give a genuine statement of appreciation to her. He was absolutely dorable sometimes, especially with how little he understood about social interactions - excluding how to manipulate someone.

For all his power and political know-how he really had trouble when it came to having a nice, non-work related and social relationship with someone… not that she was all that much better.

Maybe that was why they worked so well together.

Though she hated fitting into the idea of feminine stereotypes Karin also wanted to make sure Toshiro relaxed, so she eventually buckled down and went to go make him some tea. Toshiro couldn't help but smile when she sat down across from him drinking some of her own tea. Even if she couldn't help him directly she still found ways to make his job easier. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing for his fukutaicho to do.

On second thought, yes it was. Though Karin had a point in that he probably shouldn't go crazy and destroy all sake in existence, despite how much he wanted to.

Sometimes it was hard to tell which one of them was older, not that such a thing mattered for souls in the first place. Oh well, he would be able to find some way to get back at her when she finally let them out of his office.

Karin, after feeling someone watching her, finally looked up and noticed she was being stared at. She blinked, raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side, as if to say what-could-you-possibly -want-now?

"I was just thinking about how different your actions now are from a few weeks ago when you bugged me to join you at that fair near the division." Remembering that, Karin got a nostalgic expression on her face and also smirked at the change.

"Yeah, I guess it really wasn't that long ago- especially for souls, but it feels like forever since then. Maybe because you finally started calling me 'Karin' instead of 'Kurosaki', who knows?"

"Who knows." He agreed, with a nod before going back to his papers. Nothing had really changed but suddenly looking through personal information to find the terrorists didn't seem like such an inexcusable action or big deal- it was just something for him to use to complete his goals of protecting everyone.

Matsumoto smiled as she looked in through a crack in the wood between her's and Toshiro's office, watching the young couple. She was well aware that her behavior was not at all appropriate even for the current situation but she really wanted to watch.

Lowering her reiatsu as far as she could go was just a precaution, the real reason she hadn't been notice was because the walls contained kido that would block reiatsu-and, by extension, her presence from being noticed.

She bit back a smirk, in the back of her mind she noted that there was a chance she was enjoying this a bit too much. There was a chance if she went overboard she would get careless and they could catch her. Then she decided life was no fun if she spent all her time worrying. With a flamboyant flourish, she whipped out her notebook of 'plans-on-how-to-get-taicho-and-Karin-together' to make some notes.

I think Karin's really got the whole 'making taicho happy' thing down. She made him relax instantly even though they're both so adorably awkward when it comes to even the most common of social practices. Like seriously, it took forever for Ichigo to convince taicho that it was okay for friends to call each other by their first names (or at least for him to stop bothering to protest most of the time) and it's a battle in and of itself to get Karin to agree to go shopping with the other girls.

It seems their only real saving graces when it comes to socializing are that they both look adorable and can inspire each other. (Though we can never let them find out I wrote that or I'd be changed to the ends of the three worlds)

Anyways, back to observations. Taicho was furious (as expected, he can be strangely predictable at times) but Karin was able to calm him down from going completely overboard and destroying all the sake in existence. Honestly I haven't done anything that warrants a reaction like that. He's evil.

And taicho was able to bring up how their relationship is changing without getting too embarrassed about their status as an actual couple! This is the most progress I've made between these two ever! ;)

Nanao was totally right about what he'd try to do though so I can hope I'll have about as much time as she estimated before he tries to break down the walls in frustration. Though that's only if Karin doesn't snap first.

...I guess our only option is to hope for the best! :)

These human emojis we found in the world of the living really are their best creations. I wish humans made things like this more often!

I wonder if taicho's ever going to get overprotective and illogically start sending Karin only on relatively easy and safe missions. He's clever so he probably knows doing that will get him in trouble but I can't help but wonder. It's pretty rare for him to be so emotionally attached to someone anyways. Even me, Momo, Ichigo and his grandmother don't compare to the emotion he feels for Karin (also known as true love).

Guess I better keep paying attention if I want to get some more good info on them! Let's hope it all goes well, operation… start!

* * *

"Hey, since we have so much time to ourselves and you're almost done anyways maybe we should try to find something we don't have time to otherwise." Toshiro completely paused in his work, then looked up at Karin in confusion.

Seeing his obvious lack of understanding Karin rolled her eyes and decided to elaborate.

"My point is that we're both super busy. I've got all my third seat work and training, while you're completely swamped with work- and are probably only going to get more soon with how all you captains seem to be worried- because of your rank. You have to do all this and keep training yourself, then use any free time you have to go on dates with me."

"...And how will what you're suggesting we do be any different than one of our dates? Isn't this all pretty much the same thing in the end? Me and you talking about our lived and enjoying each other's company while we relax."

"It could be, but I was hoping you could talk to me about my fighting technique. I have Kanna to train with now but I still don't have a crazy number of people to train with, who knows if something will be able to catch me off guard."

Toshiro leaned back in his chair, he agreed, but hadn't thought about her fighting in a while and would need some time to collect his thoughts. Karin knew him well enough to know exactly what was going on and simply waited patiently.

Finally, he opened his eyes again and met hers.

"Right, so I think you have increasing your agility, strength and overall physical ability down. What your biggest concern should be is the theoretical part to fighting."

"But Ichi-n," Karin suddenly caught the embarrassing nickname she was about to give and stopped. While she thought it was nice when Toshiro called him that she only rarely called him the same thing willingly. "...but Ichigo never really had to worry about theory, right? I know we had all those classes at the academy but Ichigo's pretty much the strongest being to ever exist as far as we can tell, so what's up with that?"

"Your brother started fighting as a child, so no, he didn't take any fighting theory classes, but he does know how to fight. It could be simply called instinct but the truth of the matter is that he fought so much even when he was just a kid that it's a part of him. Instinct, maybe, and his hollow probably had a part to play in it coming so naturally to him, but that doesn't change the fact that he had fighting theory drilled into him the same way the original creators of the theory did. By fighting his whole life against opponents who outclassed him through skill, experience, numbers or power which comes with age." (1)

"What do you mean by, 'he had fighting theory drilled into him the same way the original creators of the theory did'?"

"It may seem like he doesn't think when he fights, but he wouldn't be able to fight anyone and win without some amount of theory. He knows what to look for in an opponent. He knows what weak points look like and he knows how to exploit those weaknesses."

"So what about my fighting? Got any ideas?"

"At this point the best I can do for you is give you a mindset to view your fighting through, it will mostly be you learning new techniques from your zanpakuto or changing your fighting style through training. I can at least give you a very broad lense to look at your style through, thought. Do you want me to do that?"

The strive to improve was extremely strong in Karin, Toshiro just didn't know how strong until he saw her eyes change to single-mindedly-focused orbs reflecting her attitude.

"Yeah, I want you to help me."

Toshiro couldn't help but smile at the sudden change in behavior- their normal teasing was completely gone, she really wanted to know.

"Alright. You are a bit similar to your brother in fighting. Your current strength is your ability to train your body's reflexes to know if the other person has a weak point. It requires much less time if you don't need to think on the spot, but have instead practiced enough times for your body to just remember what that train of thought is. It's a style that's more than fine for now. If I had to pick something for you to work on, though, it would be imagination. Your style is extremely effective, no doubt about that, but when you can be creative and surprise your opponent you are most powerful. Focus on that."

"What do you mean by 'be creative'? How would that show itself while fighting."

"The main flaw in your style is your can be a bit predictable. It takes so long to train those split- second reflexes that it can be hard to have more than one counter for these sorts of things. If you can then surprise your opponent by doing something completely different than what your reflexes say but is still effective it will work on most people."

"What about hollows?"  
"The only ones you might need to worry about are the arrancar who have more intelligence. This mind game idea won't work on the one's more closely resembling animals but it will work on the ones you need to watch out for."  
Karin nodded and gave a hum of understanding. Toshiro had to agree that it was nice to sit down together and talk like this.

"You know, I might not destroy all existing sake or even just Matsumoto's. This wasn't as bad as it could have been."

"Yeah, thanks Matsumoto!" Karin called, hoping Matsumoto would hear her. A startled yelp and subsequent bang occurred as a watching Lieutenant got scared and hit her head on the wall she was spying through.

* * *

 _1) This whole thing is a bit of a headcanon of mine. I know about a martial art called Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, which originally formed when a group of people took a Japanese martial art which was more a dance than anything and went around getting into fights with it. That's where this idea comes from, Ichigo fought a lot as a kid, so he might have gone through something similar._


	16. Chapter 16

As she leaned back in her chair Karin couldn't help but smile. Rare as they were, Karin's smiles (the genuine ones- not her evil smirks) tended to lift the mood of their captain and subsequently the mood of the entire tenth division.

Because she was able to get so much of her work done when she was locked in the office with Toshiro Karin was currently free from all paperwork. She had about an hour or two to herself before she had to go watch over some training. This happened so rarely that she honestly was having trouble thinking of something to do- it was much less fun to play soccer by yourself.

As she thought about that Karin couldn't help remembering the times she and Toshiro would play the game together while she was a highschool student in the world of the living. He would be sent to her brother to update him on the latest classified Soul Society information on whoever was trying to destroy their government then spare some time to say 'hi' to her.

* * *

Karin rubbed her leg covered in grass and dirt, trying to relieve some of the soreness. In the back of her mind she knew she was overworking herself, but with a tournament coming up she was having trouble making herself care. There was no one in her school (boys included) who could last a minute against her in soccer so she was forced to make them do two or three-on-one matches with her but it was hard to arrange a time when so many people could come.

So, she compensated by overworking herself whenever she was alone. It would be easier if there was someone who could last against her but apparently she was too good.

Karin gave a frustrated growl and kicked the ball again, hoping to use the force to let her annoyance out. The ball flew through the air past her target but then- to her surprise- was easily caught by someone walking towards the field.

Someone was recognizable white hair and piercing teal eyes.

"You know, you really need to stop doing this. That's the second time you've become angry and sent a ball flying off into the distance. If I'm remembering correctly, we first met because of you doing that, right?"

Fighting to keep the blush off her face, Karin refused to allow even a bit of her surprise at seeing him to show in her expression. Instead she rolled her eyes and sent him a teasing expression.

"I would have thought you'd be thankful, you never would have met me if I didn't do that. Anyways, do you have some time. I need someone to practice with so if you're done reporting to Ichigo you could always help."

"Why do you need my help? Surly you have plenty of other people who you could work with. And for all you know I could be busy."

"What kind of work would a grade-schooler be busy with? Though I guess you've grown a bit, are you already a middle schooler? Time really flies by so fast."

Toshiro glared at her comments, trying not to react to her obvious attempts at riling him up. After a few seconds of consideration he eventually gave a resigned sigh and kicked the ball back.

"I suppose I have time to spare you a bit of help."

"Wow, how noble of you." Karin's sarcasm eased the tension in the air of the silent field, allowing both her and Toshiro to relax slightly. Her words came with a familiar edge that took away all the walls which might have formed in the time between his last visit to her.

Soon the two were engaged in a vicious one-on-one match against each other, with Toshiro giving her helpful advice and tips sprinkled in as he watched her form. The later it became, the more soccer club members came out to the field to pick up their stuff before walking home, only to be drawn into watching the mini competition.

To them, Karin had always been the best. She was by far the best player on their team and was rumored to have been the deciding factor in the soccer competitions at her middle school. It was still freshman year of highschool and they didn't know exactly how she played at competitions but they knew she could destroy all of them easily.

Except there was a white-haired boy who was working with Karin and giving her tips. Giving her advice. That never happened, even the coaches had trouble telling her better advice than 'keep practicing'.

The more they watched the more flabbergasted they became. They had never seen a match at the same level of intensity as the one between Karin and the unknown boy, and the boy didn't even seem like he was using his full power.

After about forty-five minutes of relay Karin practically collapsed on the ground, only to be caught by the white haired boy. They were too far away to hear but they could see the boy make a gesture to them, proving he knew they had been watching.

The boy gave Karin a bit of support as she hobbled back to the group, sweat dripping down her body at an impressive speed. Despite their best efforts, none of them could keep their shock from showing on their faces.

"Hey, guys. Did you all finish everything you had to do?"

Snapping out of their starstruck trance at Karin's words, the soccer club members all nodded enthusiastically, newfound respect in their eyes. A few female members of the soccer club couldn't help looking at the boy.

He barely looked tired and seemed to be breathing normally despite the game leaving Karin exhausted. A few of the girls couldn't help but blushing and whispering among each other about how cute he was.

"So, Karin," one of them began, her eyes solely focused on the unknown boy. "Are you going to tell us who the new kid is?"

"Hitsugaya Toshiro," the boy's voice was unnaturally cold and mature despite his seemingly young appearance. "I'm a friend of Karin's older brother."

Immediately after he said that Karin turned her head to the side and muttered, "How the hell do you expect anyone to believe an antisocial, teal-eyed and white-haired boy to be a normal kid. Aren't shinigami supposed to blend in when they're in the world of the living?"

Toshiro made a point of ignoring her, grateful that she spoke quietly enough for her friends to not have heard.

Instead, those friends were confused about something else. "You're friends with Karin's older brother but not Karin? But you're our age."

Before Toshiro could yell at the rude soccer club member Karin interrupted, "His dad works a place where my brother sometimes comes and helps in. He also has to help sometimes so they work together and got to know each other through that. Our dad's also know each other."

Toshiro sent her an utterly confused look and Karin saw no reason to explain to him that she refused to let any of her friends know about ghosts. Her brother may have been fine with his friends fighting life threatening battles (if only because he knew he could protect them) but she wasn't going to let that happen.

Besides, if the position of Shinigami Captain was considered work then her story would still be true minus the part about Toshiro's dad.

"What are you doing?" Toshiro hissed at her, just quietly enough that the others wouldn't hear. His deadly glare was unmistakable though.

"Is that a rhetorical question? I'd think it'd be pretty obvious." She hadn't thought it was possible but his glare actually sharpened at her mocking words. Having finally caught her breath, Karin stood up- it had been way too embarrassing to keep leaning on him for support, even if neither of them thought of it as anything other than help.

"So are you on a soccer team? You're really good!" For a brief moment Toshiro was slightly stunned, unused to both the enthusiastic behavior of a child and the fact that he was being respected for something by someone he didn't know. Usually the only people who thought well of him were his squad members and he had to constantly prove himself to everyone else.

Meanwhile, Karin was having a hard time keeping her laughter in.

Toshiro glared at her again.

Realizing there had been a bit of a long, awkward pause after the question Toshiro turned to answer, "No, I'm not interested in soccer especially but I'm fairly athletic and can enjoy doing it with people I know. Karin at least honestly listens to any advice I give her so I have no problems with giving it."

"You're… kinda weird." The entire group turned to stare, flabbergasted, at the tactless boy who had just spoken. The captain of the soccer club reached behind the first boy's head and pushed down, making him bow.

"Sorry about that! He didn't mean it!" The captain apologised.

"He has a point though, Shiro. Aren't you supposed to be a prodigy who only appears once every one million years?"

Toshiro couldn't quite stop a blush from forming on his face. "I really think that's beside the point. Since you're done practicing soccer for now will you need some help getting back to the gym? Or are you interested in practicing with your friends?"

"Why don't you just practice with us?" Toshiro and Karin simultaneously did a double take at the comment made by one of Karin's friends. The speaker blushed slightly at receiving the attention of the entire group but continued. "I mean… I don't see any problem with us all practicing together… you could help us a lot… I mean if Kurosaki's feeling up to it of course-"

With an almost exaggerated sigh Karin cut off her stammering friend quickly. "I'd be fine with practicing some more. So, what do you think? You interested in helping us, or will you be your usual melodramatic self and decide to be a loner instead?"

"I would be… happy to help," Toshiro forced out, glaring at Karin for her unrepentant expression and words. "If you think you can keep up."

Karin's eyes widened. She knew exactly what his words were: a challenge. She was always challenged by rivals who wanted to surpass her and goad her on or by admirers who wanted to see her succeed but this was the first time Toshiro had challenged her. The first time she had been challenged by someone better than her at soccer, and in a way that was asking if she would be able to keep up with him.

He was asking if she could work alongside him. This was the first time he had ever asked her that. It was, of course, about soccer and not very important, but the fact of the matter was that Karin already knew what her answer was going to be.

"I know I can."

Toshiro smirked at the confidence in her words, the defiance in her expression, and nodded, walking with her back to the field to keep practicing.

* * *

Karin smiled at the memory. That was the first time she had answered his question. Can you keep up? He would always ask her that, whether subconsciously or literally and she always answered the same way, to the point where now she was his third seat and a member of his division.

"Karin." The subject of her current thoughts interrupted them suddenly. Once he saw the he had her attention Toshiro gestured to the door and continued explaining "Matsumoto has something for us outside, is this an okay time?"

"Sure, I've got nothing better to do." Karin answered with a small nod as she stood up and joined Toshiro in walking toward the door.

They fell into rhythm as their steps echoed through an otherwise silent hallway but the atmosphere was no longer as awkward as it might have been several years ago. In the short span of several months Toshiro had grown much closer to Karin and they understood each other well enough to be comfortable in the silence.

Fitting, as neither of the pair was much of a talker to begin with. Usually Matsumoto or Kanna would take up those roles when present.

Their footsteps continued until finally they were outside the barrack, staring straight at an almost life-sized re-creation of the two of them made entirely of ice. Toshiro was in his captain hatori but also was wearing a pair of ice skates. Karin was, oddly enough, dressed in clothes from the world of the living during the two decades she was alive. She was also sculpted to wear a pair of frozen skates on her feet.

Toshiro was holding his hand out while Karin clasped it with hers, the two of them molded to look as if they were skating across a frozen lake.

A quick glance over by Toshiro proved to him that this had been created by a joint effort between several different Lieutenants using kido, an application he had never considered.

Matsumoto could barely help squealing from the couple's adorable reactions. Sure, neither of them had even gone so far as to open their mouths in shock but she was able to see their eyes go wide, which, to her, was a humongous accomplishment. She had surprised the two people in the Gotei Thirteen who were pointlessly insistent on hiding their emotions and it showed. (1)

She had never felt more proud.

Despite having been taken off guard, within a handful of seconds both shinigami were able to rein in their emotions like usual. They really did just click together perfectly.

"This is… thanks, Rangiku." Karin muttered out, stepping closer so she could trace the sculpture of Toshiro's cheek with her hand. While she did that Toshiro moved to the model of Karin and ran a hand over the top, as if he was trying to run his fingers through her hair.

"This looks just like her. How did you…"

Matsumoto watched as her captain spread his reiatsu over the sculptures and lowered their temperature, ensuring they would not melt. She felt Karin's reiatsu tweak with happiness, giving a small representation of her true emotions behind the mask of indifference.

"We actually asked Orihime-chan for help!" Matsumoto happily explained, moving the couple's eyes away from their lover's mirror image. "She's so used to returning things to their original form and copying the exact structure of a body that she was able to give us some advice and help. She's also healed both of you before so her powers have a general idea of what you look like! So, what do you two think!"  
While it looked slightly painful for him to admit, Toshiro decided this at least deserved him saying something and took a deep breath.

"It's amazing, I really can't thank you enough." Matsumoto mentally cheered, knowing Toshiro had just forgiven her for locking him in a room with Karin. Nanao hadn't believed he would forgive her so easily but she was right ("You're delusional, this will never work" "Maybe it will work if you help me" "I'm busy" "Pleeeeeeaaaaaassssseeee").

"I don't suppose you have some sort of storage." Matsumoto was snapped out of her mental cheering and looked up to Karin eyeing the sculpture wit a slightly annoyed expression.

"What do you mean?"

Toshiro had obviously understood what Karin was trying to say (honestly, the two were always on the same wavelength) so he answered instead.  
"Even if I make sure it's incapable of melting we still need to worry about where to put it. Storing something as big and delicate as this will be hard, so I don't suppose you have a solution. Do you have a place to store it or did that problem never occur to you while you were working on it?"

The flinch from his Lieutenant told Toshiro that he had hit the nail on the head with his question. As always.

"W-well, I'm sure we could find some place to put it… or maybe we could just leave it outside the division on display for everyone to see-"

"No!" Her suggestion was instantly vetoed by two blushing faces. She supposed they were still kids and wouldn't want a model of them and their lover put on display for everyone they worked with to see.

...In hindsight that wasn't the best suggestion she could have given.

Oh well.

"Then… maybe you could find someplace to put it. I mean, Taicho is a powerful captain and a genius and Karin is a member of the Shiba clan and also strong, I'm sure you'd be able to find or create a place to put it."

"And you're suddenly not strong for some reason?"

"Well… I have things to do… and I may or may not be totally behind on the recent gossip network because of how long I spent on the sculpture."

A guilty look flashed across their faces and Matsumoto knew she had given the right appeal. While both of them were amazing at hiding their emotions they both hated to be indebted to someone. Never mind the fact that she was doing this to make up for something she did earlier. But they would be letting her go so the details weren't important.

"I'm sure we can find something." Toshiro finally admitted, waving a hand in dismissal for his Lieutenant. Karin rolled her eyes but when they made contact with Matsumoto's she nodded, showing that she agreed.

In a flash of shunpo Matsumoto was gone, running away to, as Toshiro liked to call it when there was unfinished paperwork, completely waste her time and not spend it doing anything productive despite there being work to finish.

Of course, in between spending days like that she would help him in an unbelievable way like the sculpture and kept him from ever requesting a transfer.

He turned slightly to see Karin smirking at him. She really knew him to well, her look told him she knew exactly what he had been thinking about.

He shook his head and organized his thoughts for work. "So, can you think of anywhere the Shiba's would be able to keep it? I can keep it from melting naturally but if I don't see it and a firework goes off on top of it I might not know to put more power into keeping it from melting. Do you know of a place where that wouldn't be a concern?"

Karin raised an eyebrow, wordlessly reminding Toshiro that she spent barely any time with the Shibas to begin with, regardless of how rarely they acted like nobility. The very idea of staying on a rich land as a useless noblewoman was disgusting to her, nevermind that she was an actual noblewoman and didn't act like that at all. Yuzu was really a much better fit for that life in the first place.

"I don't know the area as well as I probably should but no, I think fireworks happen everywhere. Do you think we'd be able to fit it in the barracks somewhere? Obviously not out in the open but in a spare office maybe."

"We can look around, that might be our best bet."

Nodding, Karin was suddenly very glad neither she or Toshiro had a superior they would need to explain the situation to before using one of the barracks.

* * *

The division was more empty than usual for the middle of the day, but Karin had a feeling she knew why. With all the captains obviously worried about something everyone else was trying to keep themselves from panicking over their superior's states. They did this by becoming almost reclusive and focusing on paperwork or drinking.

She really hoped this whole mess would be over and done soon. Honestly, how did the Seireitei manage to make so many people angry and why did they always attack instead of just coming to Central Forty-six and demanding compensation. Before her brother was two decades old he had already fought these sorts of people approximately 50 times.

On second thought, Central Forty-six probably wouldn't listen to what an outsider had to say as a reason for compensation, regardless of how good the argument was.

Still, at least then it wouldn't be her problem.

"How about this room?" Toshiro asked as he maintained the kido he was using to carry the statue as they looked through the different rooms.

Tilting her head slightly, Karin considered the option, the shook her head in refusal. It was too full already, so while they could probably fit the statue in, it would be hard to find it again if they wanted to see it.

Toshiro simply responded with a nod, moving to the next room. Karin shunpo'd ahead and opened the door while he took longer so that the statue didn't break. Slowly, Karin looked inside the room and considered the location, then found she had no problems with it.

"What about this one?"

Hesitating for a moment, Toshiro responded with a sharp 'no' which left no room for disagreement.

"It is too far away from the barracks, in the event of an emergency if we were here looking at it we would have trouble getting back to the Seireitei to help."

Karin sent him a mocking smile, then reached up and ruffled his hair. "Good job, Shiro. Figures you'd be the one to think of that! I'm very proud."

Toshiro's expression was torn between blushing embarrassment he tried to fight down and ice-cold anger, so he ended up glaring at her with absolutely adorable pink cheeks.

Still, this had been taking too long for Karin to be satisfied. She had no idea why they had so many rooms in the first place but figured it was something like an intimidation tactic.

Though she had no idea why considering before her brother arrived there was a period of about 1000 years (2) where the only possible enemy for Shinigami was low-level hollows.

Honestly, despite being one herself she would never understand Shinigami.

Toshiro looked over with concern, having noticed her sigh. He realized that her patience must be reaching it's limit and his was starting to crack.

He leaned back against the wall and thought, putting his genius mind to work.

"Karin," he began, getting her attention instantly. "I think there's a room we can use for this. It's technically meant for Matsumoto to store materials in but she tends to fill it up with sake and cosmetics which I need to get rid of anyways. We could ask her if we can put this there."

"Ever the practical one, aren't you?" Karin asked with a smirk, "Only the top ten seated officers can get into her storage and it'll probably lower the amount of sake she puts inside. You hit all the birds with one stone, congratulations."

This time Toshiro couldn't stop the embarrassed blush from crawling up his neck at her perfect assessment of his intentions. His expression made Karin try desperately to hold in a small laugh to they wouldn't attract attention. It would be bad if a random passerby saw the embarassing art they were carrying.

"Alright then, to Matsumoto's office it is." Karin declared with a smile. Then, in a sudden display of affection, Karin got onto her tip toes and kissed him.

When they seperated Toshiro gave her an unusually warm smile and she sent one right back. Blush covering both their faces now.

* * *

 _1) The thing about this is that Kuchiki-taicho is a noble clan head, a politician who was raised from birth to be such a thing. He has an actual reason to act the way that he does. Yeah, I know Toshiro does it to that he's actually respected and for his position as captain but to me he's not really a politician in the same way so it is a bit pointless. I'm not saying it's bad at all, I'm just saying it seems to be more what he wants to do than something he has to do._

 _2) I feel like from the time between the first part of the Quincy war to when Ichigo showed up there probably wasn't too much going on. I mean, Aizen spent a long time weakening the power of the Shinigami but they still weren't defeated even though it seems like without Ichigo the highest captains would have had to deal with the problems. Besides, how can people constantly at war or dealing with invasions be that unprepared for one done by a group of (admittedly very powerful) teenagers and a cat?_

 _3) Thank you for reading! Please leave a review!_


	17. Chapter 17

"Shiro-chan~ How are you on this fine day?!"

The pen in Toshiro's hand snapped.

While he didn't have the same instant reaction of lowering the temperature at teasing he hated hearing the nickname come from _that_ man.

Or anyone except Karin, really.

"It's good to see you Urahara. Everything is… fine here. We're still looking into any people that have caused us some concern in our divisions though, so please try to avoid causing too big a mess while you visit." In response Urahara swiftly snapped open his fan and sent the ice captain a far too innocent expression for im to be comfortable.

"We'll try," Toshiro tried not to jump as a voice came from a black cat next to his desk. While he could usually find her if he payed attention he could never notice the former leader of the stealth corps when distracted (and honestly who could).

The deceptive black cat with golden eyes climbed onto Urahara's shoulder, then turned to look Toshiro in the eyes.

"So you said you found some people who you thought were involved in the rebellion, right? How many people do you have for us to look into."  
Toshiro tried not to flinch at the reminder. He wanted to trust every member of his squad with his life and now he was getting their pasts looked into. He was doing this even though he was relatively close to one of the suspects- the lack of trust reminded him far too much of Aizen.

But, he was still a captain who had a responsibility, personal feelings had to be overruled in times like this. Like Karin said, 'Distrusting them now let's you confirm they're on your side and if not lets you keep everyone else safe.' He, unfortunately, had a job to do.

"...There's a girl who just joined my squad named Kanna. We've gotten surprisingly close despite the short amount of time at Karin's urging, but… a few things don't quite add up about her. First I was only suspicious of her for not being largely connected to any part of the Gotei Thirteen and being a new member. Then Karin and I met her brother Takahiro. They have a normal relationship for siblings in a noble family."

"Then when did you start to become more worried about her?" Urahara prompted and Toshiro couldn't hold back a scowl. He quickly decided he hated this conversation.

"At that point and after meeting her brother I became much closer to them and at that point I was looking into them with the hopes of proving they were loyal. I thought I'd be able to check them off the suspect list and be able to completely relax around them again. But the more I looked into them, the more I noticed that some things from their backgrounds don't quite add up."

This got both Yoruichi and Urahara interested- the former for obvious reasons and the latter due to his interest in manipulation of information- and they allowed some of their childish masks to slip off for the time being.

"Such as?"

"Kanna got high marks in her academy kido exam but nowhere near the level she shows when sparring. I've watched her and Karin have practice matches and with the addition of her kido Kanna is able to challenge Karin."

"Are you sure? Karin must be holding back."

"She is," Toshiro reassured. "But it almost feels like Kanna is too. And even if Karin was holding back, you know how bad she is at that, she's crushed newcomers with just her reiatsu before because she forgot to restrain it. She and Kanna have released Shikai in battle and still been able to push each other, and it's only been a few months since the academy exams and graduation. If you have another theory I'd be happy to hear it."

Urahara gave a dangerous smile, shadowing his eyes and covering his face with the fan. "Yes, it does seem to be an issue. Either that girl suddenly turned into the second coming of Ichigo during the last few months after several years of work or she held back in the exam."

"And the biggest question is, why would she do that." Yoruichi's tail gave a happy twitch but rather than a relaxed cat Toshiro attributed that scene more to a confident predator who had just found some prey.

Toshiro snuck a glance at the clock and scowled at the time. He wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep other people from his office so he should finish his report as fast as possible.

"Her personality isn't too far from what I'd expect given her background. She usually puts on a more polite and respectful mask-almost certainly the result of her noble heritage- but once you get close to her she is quite teasing and playful. However, when we first met her was on the day we met all the new recruits and some more arrogant members… acted as usual."

"Tried to usurp your authority because they didn't want to be under a child? Got into a fight with you because they couldn't feel your strength? Generally acted like idiots?" A certain shopkeeper happily suggested.

"...Yes that. Anyways, Kanna also came up and specifically told us she respected our authority but wanted to test her strength against the third seat."

"Weird," Yoruichi turned to Urahara and captured his attention, "the nobles who respect the captains would know better than to risk their chances of getting on their superiors good side by rebelling- even in such a small way. They would be appalled at one of their own acting in a way that may lower their chances of promotion, even if it was carried out respectfully."

Urahara nodded, snapping his fan closed. "And while more fitting of the described teasing side of her I would still not expect the girl to be so disrespectful to someone who she just met, even if she phrased her request politely. You said she only acts that way around those who she has become comfortable with?"

"Yes, that's why it struck me as so odd the more I got to know her. Looking back on it, it seemed more like she was testing the strength of the Gotei Thirteen."

"What about her brother? You met him right, did he seem angry at her for the possible disrespect she showed?"

"Not at all. I, of course, am not aware of how they interact normally but… no it seemed like he was more indifferent to her than anything. We had a political debate but he was not ever trying to get her back into my good graces like you'd expect. It honestly felt like he either hadn't heard- which is pretty much impossible- or that's what he wanted her to do."

Yoruichi nodded along, somehow showing her understanding even in cat form. "And is that the only reason you want us to look into them."

Here Toshiro hesitated once again. After a moment's thought he shook his head and looked at them again. "No, it's not. I understand my responsibility but I think I also haven't completely given up hope that I'm overthinking this and she's still on our side. Please, this isn't a request from a captain but a request from me, find out where their loyalty lays."

Both 'adult' souls (1) looked at each other, having a silent conversation spurred from decades of knowing each other, then reached an agreement.

"We'd be happy to, Shiro-chan! Just leave it to us! We'd be happy to stalk your friend at your request!" Those words would have normally made Toshiro angry but the actual content- the fact that they would help him- could only make him smile.

"Thank you."

* * *

"Soi-fon-taicho." Toshiro greeted with a surprised edge to his voice as she walked into his division after shunpo-ing directly outside the door. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"No, I have simply come to inform you that several members of my squad will be watching the new member of your squad, Kanna, today. Yoruichi-sama asked me to lend a hand with their efforts on this subject."

Toshiro nodded in return, understanding why the captain had to personally come and explain the situation. Soi-fon also nodded to him, then left in the blink of an eye.

Toshiro was slightly uncertain on how to interact with her sometimes. On one hand he greatly prefered her to almost all the other captains because she actually respected him and behaved in a military manner he could work with. However, despite that there was still a slight lack of trust between them whenever they met.

This stemmed from their goals. Toshiro cared for following the law of Soul Society more than most captains, but, depending on the situation, he would sometimes put his squad above that if it aligned with his morals. Above that would be Ichigo and Momo and Rangiku and his grandmother, and possibly above them he would put Karin.

Soi-fon also cared deeply for the laws of Soul Society, but would also always but Yoruichi before those laws. What the two captains were concerned about was if the other would put the laws over those few people they cared about and lead to a conflict.

Now, luckily, this was such a small problem that it usually didn't matter. They could interact without any indication of this and had no trouble working together if they were in a group with other people.

It was just that small worry that always hovered in the backs of their minds which they were worried about.

Returning to his desk, Toshiro continued signing paperwork which (technically) belonged to Matsumoto but was done by him so often that it barely counted as such anymore. A request for leave due to a birthday, a damage report on an injured member by the fourth, a request for assistance in an area of the world of the living.

Annoying.

Sometimes Toshiro couldn't help but feel like there should be a seperate group of people who handled all the paperwork so that the captains could spend more time training. They had squads to train, skills to improve and missions to assign- it would go some much faster if they didn't need to do this.

Of course, he made sure to never voice his thoughts out loud where Kyoraku-soutaicho or Matsumoto could hear him. That would inevitably end in disaster.

"Shiro!"

"Karin?"

"Kanna's brother is coming to see her again, she said we can come too. Do you want to?" Toshiro paused, his pen hovering over the paper unmoving. Karin knew he suspected Kanna and her brother, so she also knew exactly what she was saying.

Do you want to go spy on our friends?

Looking up, he saw Karin's expression was a mix of apprehension and guilt. Not surprising. She hated this, but also knew they had a responsibility to do this.

Toshiro closed his eyes to block out any distractions and thought. He had already asked people to spy on them, it would just be a lot more personal doing it himself.

"Alright," he sent Karin a comforting smile, hoping to alleviate some of her guilt. "Let's go see them, do you know where they are?"

Karin nodded her head and motioned for Toshiro to follow her. The moment they made it outside both disappeared in a burst of shunpo.

They re-appeared in town and could see both Kanna and her brother in front of them. Karin decided to call out to them with a loud yell which forced Toshiro to cover his ears.

"HEY! You two! We're over here!" Her yell obviously startled Kanna because said girl gave a small jump at the noise while her brother did little more than twitch.

 _He must have already known we were here_. Toshiro realized as Kanna turned around with a smile on her face. Briefly, Toshiro couldn't help but wonder how much of it was a forced and practiced mask she put on for appearances sake.

He shook his head as soon as the thought came. While it was good to have a healthy sense of caution- especially around people he was suspicious of- suspecting everything he saw would be just as bad. He saw Karin run up to Kanna and as she passed him a flurry of emotions showed through her expression and he realized she must have thought the same thing.

"Sorry we took so long, I had to drag Shiro out of his office. When there's paperwork to do it's almost impossible to get his attention."

"I see, I see. I suppose it was unavoidable then." Kanna teased back with a smile and both girls happily ignored the glare Toshiro gave them.

"It's good to see you again." Takahiro greeted in a polite tone of voice. Toshiro returned the gesture with a nod and a handshake.

"You as well. It's been a while. I hope you don't mind us barging in on the two of you." Toshiro apologised more out of courtesy than anything else. They both knew Takahiro and Kanna were not close enough to care if their time together was interrupted.

"It's fine, we were thinking of going to the tea house, will you be joining us?" Takahiro answered for both him and Kanna. Karin made eye contact with Toshiro, then both nodded in agreement as they began walking.

When they got closer Karin could tell that the tea house was run by the noble family Kanna and Takahiro were a part of, explaining how they were able to come to such a popular place seemingly on a whim. The pale ivory walls were surrounded with flowers, giving the area a peaceful sense of tranquility.

It was not the kind of place Karin really enjoyed going, but when she looked at her boyfriend's face and saw the desperation in his eyes she agreed. It was only for a little while, so really, what could go wrong?

A lot, apparently.

They had sat down at a table and were making polite conversation- something that was mind numbingly boring to Karin- due to the slightly awkward air around them. Slowly Toshiro and Takahiro began to grow more comfortable with each other again and were able to once again bring up politics for discussion.

"Great job, Shiro!" Karin suddenly called out as the awkward air disappeared, "You've made a friend today! Personally, I think you have too few male friends and friends in general for you to be healthy so you have no idea how proud I am of you!"

And just like that the ice was broken. Even Toshiro couldn't cause more metaphorical ice to form when he had someone who understood him to talk to.

While Karin and Kanna began talking about various training methods, the two boys began to discuss political information from their position as clan head and captain. (2)

"The Gotei Thirteen should only get involved as per the orders of central forty-six. The central is made up of nobles who know how to repair broken bonds and are experienced in it. While yes, some more military representation in central forty-six would be good, we do not yet have it so the Shinigami should not get involved."

"But the previous central was killed by Aizen. The Gotei Thirteen is the only group with people who were involved and are still involved in the acts which need to be apologized for. The current central forty-six had nothing to do with the Quincy's first war, but there were people like the former captain commander and Unohana-taichou who did. We still have Kyoraku-soutaicho when we want to bring up people who were involved a long time ago who are still able to help now."

"The question is will you do the right thing when trying to help. There are plenty of captains whose presence would only create new problems or make the situation worse. Surely, as a captain, you must have a better understanding of that than I do."

"Obviously some captain's like Kenpachi would be unable to help, but with more Gotei Thirteen assistance you will be able to get a more clear picture of what happened during various events. Some records will be inaccurate, and you will either get a heavily bias side through a report or not understand what is being apologize for."

"If the report is bias wouldn't the direct explanation from a member of the Gotei Thirteen be even more so?"

"No, actually. The reports are usually bias because a higher ranking member of clan head doesn't want certain 'classified' information to be revealed. Most Shinigami have some relation to a noble house, if their clan head doesn't want something getting out then they won't add it into the report. However, if you directly ask someone decades after the event has passed then they have almost to motive to lying about it."

"To what degree will the reports become bias on orders? Kanna is still too new to the division for me to have a good idea."

"Actually, for that we can ask Karin, seeing as she is more closely connected to a noble family than I am." Hearing her name being called Karin and Kanna stopped their conversations and looked over at the boys.

"Yes?"

"About how much influence do you feel the clan has on a Shinigami's performance?" Takahiro asked without hesitation.

Karin raised an eyebrow in curiosity but still answered, "A lot, actually. I'm not all that connected to the Shiba clan but I know people who are more connected to their clans like the Kuchiki's and know they usually put orders from a clan head above orders from a captain. It's especially since clan heads usually know how to be subtle, but the loyalty is a factor which makes finding where reports have lies really tricky."

Takahiro nodded and Toshiro smiled at Karin. She was wearing red again today, in the form of a pinkish-red ribbon holding up her hair.

A sudden scream echoed through the teahouse.

Immediately on alert, all four seated at the table stood up, the three Shinigami moving their hands to their zanpakuto. (3) Quickly, everyone realized the yell had come from outside and the three-shinigami-plus-one-clan-head group all burst out the door.

There was the soul of a young woman and man, likely on a date together. They were both looking in horror at the roof of the tea house they had just been in.

"What's wrong?" Toshiro immediately asked, slipping back into his captain persona instantly. The couple looked at him and seemed to calm slightly, recognizing his distinctive features.

"W-we… we saw something at… something was on the roof and… we saw-"

"What did it look like?"

Karin was barely able to stop herself from rolling her eyes when she saw the couple instantly start to calm after hearing Toshiro's unafraid military voice. Stupid idiots who, yes, had a legitimate reason for behaving this way but whose emotions were so easily swayed it was a wonder they were still alive.

Or as alive as a dead soul can possibly be.

It reminded her too much of herself and her brother before their mother's death. When they were too weak to do anything to save her.

Shaking her head to remove those memories she mentally reviewed everything she just heard. According to the couple they were walking and saw the shadow of a person on the ground in front of them. It seemed odd to them that it looked like the person was standing on a roof so they looked up and saw a person dressed in clothing similar to the uniform always worn by the stealth force. Said person was on top of the building but their clothing blended in so they were hard to see. The couple also noticed he was carrying a small dagger-like sword in his hands. Whether that was a zanpakuto or not is still unknown.

Personally, Karin didn't see why that had scared them so much that they screamed. She knew all four of them were having similar thoughts but the oh so diplomatic boys were calmly talking to them and comforting them.

She and Kanna shared a look that perfectly expressed how they felt the same way. Especially since nothing actually happened to the couple in the end.

Oh well.

Once the couple was calmed down Toshiro called their group over to a discussion.

"Does that person they described sound at all familiar to any of you?" They all shook their heads but then voiced their personal theories.

"Maybe he's a civilian or some sort of hunter and the couple was just completely overreacting. They didn't seem like the _most_ stable people I've ever met."

"I see your point but I'd rather we check anyways to be completely sure."

"As you wish _taicho_. I, third seat of squad ten Karin Kurosaki, promise to whole-heartedly and faithfully carry out your orders. Regardless of the fact that in this case said orders are due to paranoia and completely unnecessary."

" _Thank you_ , Karin."

"You're welcome~!"

"Then maybe he's a thief?" Kanna suggested, "I mean, he had a sword and even though we're in one of the higher districts thieves are pretty common. Kurosaki- oh, um, your older brother- has been trying to improve the situation in these areas but he hasn't completely succeeded yet."

"A good point to consider, but I don't think I've ever heard of a thief who climbs on the roof of a building and tries to be as stealthy as possible." Takahiro rejected, then gave his own theory. "Maybe he is an assassin. We've experienced those before due to being part of a noble family and Karin is in one of the four- five now- great noble clans. I've never heard of it before but I wouldn't be surprised if someone wants to assassinate a captain."

All four grew silent as they considered this. Eventually Toshiro, their de-facto leader, cleared his throat and got their attention.

"The assassination theory seems to be our safest bet. We should probably assume that for now and deal with the situation accordingly."

"Sir, yes sir!"

Toshiro somehow expressed a long, resigned sigh even as he slowly said her name. "Karin. Sarcasm isn't helping us right now."

"Sorry sir!"

This time Toshiro couldn't quite keep a fond smile from his face even as he tried to glare at her. He then straightened up and looked at all three.

"We can split into teams of two and look for the man. If we see him we'll ask for his personal information and if he looks like he wants to run away or fight restrain him. When asking for information make sure he is aware of your ranks."

There were collective nods of understanding before the group split off into a girl group and a boy group. Both groups agreed to meet back in two hours and split off into opposite directions.

As they walked the quiet rode Takahiro noticed most of the shops were closed right now out of fear, likely the reason the street was so quiet.

The empty street would at least make it easier to find someone but that was only if he was still outside and hadn't run away after being sceen.

"Do you think he's still here?"

"I have no guarantee, but if he _is_ an assassin he'll have stayed. Besides, if we can't find him we can just report what happened and then forget about it, we have no obligation to find him. Do you have something you need to go do?"

"Not for a while."

The two resumed walking in silence and Toshiro's sharp eyes surveyed the area while simultaneously looking for reiatsu. He had noticed before but Takahiro had a surprisingly large amount- though that was more understandable given his sister also did.

Several flashes of black he identified as people appeared in the corner of his vision. He was about to attack but a split-second later he realized who they were and continued walking like nothing had happened.

He did not think Takahiro had noticed them.

A sudden burst of reishi Toshiro recognized as Karin's surged up in the opposite direction and was quickly followed by Kanna's.

Toshiro look off into a slow shunpo so that Takahiro would not lose him but soon saw that it was unnecessary. Takahiro was following along just fine. Toshiro picked up the pace and quickly arrived at a shopping district where Karin had her foot on a man who matched the description and her sword at his throat while Kanna activated binding kido.

"He tried to attack?"

"Yeah, but he wasn't too strong so we were able to subdue him. What now?"

"I'll send a hell butterfly to the second division and the Captain-commander, they're in charge of situations like this."

While they weren't _police_ per-say they were the closest thing to a law enforcement in Soul Society. On second thought that should probably be changed.

Later.

Toshiro briefly flicked his eyes over to Takahiro, curious how he was able to keep up with a shunpo so effortlessly. It was possible that because of his large reiatsu he was able to learn a bit from private instructors or his sister but…

It would seem he would need to keep researching this.

* * *

1) I mean, souls all age differently. Toshiro is young but also very powerful so he'll age really slowly, so at what point is he considered an adult? When he's physically an adult is my best guess so I'll consider him and Karin 'teenagers' and the others to be 'adults' depending on how they look in canon.

2) I really, really didn't want to come across as sexist, but based on their personalities I can't imagine either Karin or Kanna caring all that much about politics. I wanted to have them discussing training methods because it fits with their characters but isn't gossip girls have while boys talk politics. Hope no one gets offended by this!

3) I mean, I know it wouldn't be fitting for them to bring a zanpakuto there but I also can't imagine they would ever leave them behind. It's part of their soul, not just a weapon. So yeah, I had them bring theirs along.

4) Thank you! Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review!


	18. Chapter 18

"What now?" Kanna wondered allowed as she watched the second division take the unconscious assassins away. Takahiro looked like he wanted to scold her for talking in such a casual way in public and to Shinigami officers but also know this was not the time.

"Wanna go to the market? We can walk through it on our way back to the Seireitei." Karin suggested with a slight yawn. Then she saw the light in Kanna's eyes and took a cautious step back. "Wait, what are you-"  
"Yes! We should totally go shopping together! It took long enough for you to suggest it!" Toshiro was pretty sure her reiatsu was literally making her glow by this point. "We can go get clothes together and jewelry which you finally started wearing with that clip and-"

Finally deciding this had gone far enough Takahiro gave a cough and sent Kanna a cautionary look. She instantly wilted.

"And I would really appreciate it if you accompanied me on my shopping trip." She explained with a small smile. Karin blinked: the overly polite and fake version of her was back.

"Right…"

Realizing she was out of her comfort zone, Karin sent Toshiro a look of _help-me-I-have-no-idea-what's-going-on-anymore_ while continuing to slowly back away from Kanna. As the silence began to get awkward she frantically looked over at her boyfriend.

 _HELP!_

"...Maybe we should all go then." Toshiro finally suggested and could feel Kanna's reiatsu give a happy twitch. "We all need to get back to the Seireitei and, like Karin mentioned, it's on the way back already." He turned his attention to Takahiro and the other two girls did the same. "Are you free to join us now, or do you have to finish something first?"

"I would be happy to join you now. Though I will have to leave in about two hours." Kanna looked slightly embarrassed at the polite noble facade Takahiro showed that she knew he had expected of her.

Oops.

She quickly shook her head and focused instead on the fact that she would get to go shopping with her friends. As a member of a small noble family she was always almost completely focused on family image and getting stronger, then on completing the various goals her family laid out for her. Following orders instead of chasing dreams.

But this? This would be all about _her_. Friends _she_ made and _her_ idea and _she_ was doing this only because she _wanted_ to.

She would be able to spend time with Karin, the first real friend she met as a Shinigami and someone she could occasionally see as a mirror image of herself while they spared. She would be with her brother, who had always been so distant with her but was finally starting to spend time with her as a human- not a clan leader. She would get to spend time with Toshiro, a boy who trained her, helped her grow and gave her power because he did not want her to die.

She could not have asked for a better day.

"So you boys are going to be coming along on our shopping trip?" Kanna shook out of her thoughts and looked up to see Karin smirking at Toshiro.

Toshiro turned to the other boy and simply raised an eyebrow in question. Less than a second passed but during that time he could see the mask Takahiro always kept as strong as possible shatter- giving way to an expression of contemplation and perhaps worry- before changing back into one of emotionless politeness.

Takahiro then turned to look at Toshiro and realized that both of them were debating the dangers of moving around so soon after an attempted attack. The possibility of accomplices. The danger to civilians.

They came to a decision.

"Actually, maybe the two of us will go head over to one of the fruit stalls for watermelon and then take a walk in the forest. The two of us will need to go in an an hour or two for work but I'm pretty sure both of you have the rest of the day off. I see no reason why we can't separate now." For a moment Karin looked dismayed that she would be forced to go shopping alone, but then she considered what she said and found she agreed.

That did not stop her from giving a long, over-exaggerated sigh.

"Fine, we'll see you two later then. Nice seeing you again Takahiro. Have fun with your friend, Shiro! We'll be off now!"

"Goodbye Takahiro-onii san, bye Captain. Enjoy your watermelon" Toshiro could already see the polite mask she was wearing start to fade and knew Takahiro could as well, though neither boy commented on it.

"Goodbye." Toshiro said in return and Takahiro gave a nod.

* * *

There was, luckily, no trouble in getting slices of watermelon at the market. However, Toshiro was able to learn that Takahiro also liked eating the sweet treat ("You do as well?" "Yes, it is unfortunate Soul Society does not carry more" "I would have thought you'd have your own garden of it" "..." "your own garden doesn't carry enough for you?" "...maybe") and did so often.

"Have you ever taken a walk in this area before?"

"No, I usually stay by the manor instead of the village and whenever I do leave I always have something to do."

"I see, do you think nobles should always be unaware of the world outside their work? I've heard people arguing that the more time one spends completely focused on what they specialize in the better they get their job done."

"I have also heard people argue that, but I'm afraid I disagree. The hope is that without outside distractions you can complete your job to your highest capacity but I believe a more well-rounded person can complete their job with more skill.

"I see. Though I suppose there isn't really anything the Gotei Thirteen can do to change that at the current date."

"I agree, that's why I believe we should have something resembling the way many perceive the spirit king to be."

"...Could you elaborate?"

"I think having one person or a group who has power in all parts of our world and government would greatly benefit Soul Society. We have the Central making decisions about our laws despite the fact that the people in that group are rarely experts on the subject. We have the Gotei Thirteen making some decisions about our military and jobs but they must follow the Central's orders during times of peace. Noble clans make most of the decisions surrounding the daily lives of citizens but have no say in any of the other fields."

"You believe have a group to force the other groups to cooperate would be the best choice?"

"Precisely. Though I do admit that is impossible without drastic change to our government and world. Ichigo Kurosaki seems to be taking us in the right direction though."

"Yes, it helps that he is a member of one of the five great noble clans (1), a war hero and someone who grew up as an ordinary civilian in the human world."

"Part of everything, fitting for a hybrid." Toshiro nodded in agreement and took a bit out of the watermelon in his hands. It was a bit too hot for him to be truly comfortable today but his reiatsu more that made up for that.

Not that anything above freezing would qualify as 'comfortable'.

In the corner of his eye, Toshiro once again saw a flash of black in the shape of a person, too fast for anyone untrained to see.

Toshiro cast a glance away from the black flash and saw Takahiro staring at the direction he had been looking previously.

 _Could he have seen that?_ Toshiro wondered, _No, I could see it because I'm a captain but usually only tenth seats and above could see something moving that fast._

As Toshiro was thinking through that Takahiro noticed he was being stared at and stopped. Not making it obvious but also not continuing to look at it.

Toshiro shook his head. _I'm just being paranoid, there's a million reasons he could have been looking in that direction and stopped when he noticed me watching. And even if he did see the same thing, it doesn't immediately prove he wants to kill everyone; all it means is that he had some training, exactly what he said._

"How do you feel about the change Ichigo Kurosaki is making?" Takahiro prompted and attracted Toshiro's attention. "As a captain and a close associate of him I'm sure you're helping, but you must not agree with everything."

"For one thing, I am dating his younger sister and his father used to be my captain before he left and I took the position, so I'm pretty close to their family."

"Oh, I was not aware of the father being related to you."

Toshiro nodded and smiled, thinking about the day he had found out his former captain- presumed dead- was alive and kicking in the world of the living.

* * *

 _(2) "Hey, Toshiro." Said person looked up at hearing their name being called by a familiar voice and saw someone waving him over._

 _"You do realize I have work to do, right?" Toshiro rhetorically asked as he made a sweeping motion, gesturing to the large pile of paperwork on his desk. "So unless the world might be ending- which honestly happens way too often- I'd appreciate you coming back later."_

 _"You always have work to do, besides this is related to both me and Karin." At the mention of the sarcastic girl who he played soccer with Toshiro was immediately standing up, ignoring the chair clattering to the ground behind him._

 _"What?! Is she okay? What happened to-"_

 _"She's fine!" Ichigo yelled over Toshiro, putting his hands up in a mock surrender position that helped calm Toshiro. "It just has to do with our whole family. I wanted to introduce you to someone you. He says he knew you and it'll make things easier in the future if you just found out now."_

 _Trying (futility) to hide a blush, Toshiro turned around and picked up the chair he had thrown back. He had not meant to overreact in such a way but hearing her name had surprised him. His nervous reiatsu had also caused some ice to form around the which he quickly removed._

 _"How did you get here anyway?" Toshiro wondered allowed, "No one told me you were coming and I'm usually the person sent to pick you up."_

 _"Well this is more of a social call so I decided just to save time by opening up a garganta." Toshiro paused mid-shunpo and turned to look at Ichigo._

 _"Really?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"...nevermind." Toshiro mumbled after a pause, well-aware he wouldn't be able to get Ichigo to stop even if he said something._

 _Toshiro rubbed his temples in exhaustion, not saying anything until they arrived at the Kurosaki house and Ichigo let him in._

 _"So who is this person you want me to meet?"_

 _"Right, so I probably should have explained this to you, but I'm almost positive you won't believe me until you see evidence." Ichigo explained as they began walking up the stairs._

 _Toshiro blinked in confusion but nodded and continued to follow. In the back of his mind, he registered a noise that was quickly growing louder and louder. Toshiro looked up at Ichigo with caution but Ichigo just shook his head to convey it was fine._

 _"WEEEEEEEEEELLCCOOOOOOOOOOMMEEEEEEEE BAAAAAAACCKK IIIIIIICCHHIIIIIGGOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

 _*Bam*_

 _Casually, Ichigo lifted his foot up and it slammed into a man who was coming closer and closer to them._

 _"Hey goat-face."_

 _Instantly, Isshin Kurosaki (Shiba) began to give over-exaggerated fake sobs about how little his darling son cared for him to his wife._

 _To Toshiro, that was very familiar body language._

 _"...Captain… Shiba?"_

 _Instantly the man burst up and turned to look at the white-haired captain. Said boy was currently wearing a Gigai but his hair and eye color were still obvious._

 _"Toshiro! My second son!" Isshin declared with a smile as he sweaped Toshiro into his arms. "I knew you'd come for me! Welcome home!"_

 _On the side Ichigo gave a resigned sigh, offering absolutely no help to Toshiro in escaping his current predicament._

 _"Wha- but I… I thought you were dead!" Toshiro screamed once he managed to turn his face away from his former captain's chest and breathe._

 _"Yes, yes, I'm sure you thought that. But don't worry. Instead I found the love of my life and gave up everything to be with her!"_

 _Toshiro gaped, no sound coming out of his mouth despite having a million questions. He turned to Ichigo who just gave him a slightly lopsided smile._

 _"Yeah, sorry. But you wouldn't have believed me if I just came up to you and said 'hey, you know your former Captain who you thought died? Well actually he's Karin's and my dad and wants to meet you again now that he isn't going to be executed for abandoning his post.' Right?"_

 _"I, but… what?"_  
 _"Hold on, is this the boy who Karin keeps playing soccer with Karin who she fell in love with?" Isshin asked and Toshiro felt a bright red creep up his cheeks._

 _"Goat-face, if she hears you say that you're going to get your head bashed in. He just plays soccer with her… for now."_

 _"For now?" Toshiro cried but Isshin pulled him close and started crying._

 _"Oh this is perfect! My daughter can marry my second son and then we'll really be family! You can be my son in law and it'll be perfect! Karin's made a wonderful choice in deciding her future partner for the rest of her life and death!"_

 _"She's still alive, Captain!"_

 _"Ichigo's mother was still alive and I married her. I don't see why you two can't get together anyways!"_

 _"I'm not going to just abandon my post sir!"_

 _"Oh, don't be like that. And besides, she's Ichigo's sister so I'm sure you can get the higher ups to make an exception for you! I mean she's already half-shinigami!"_

 _Toshiro was completely and utterly speechless as only a few people can make him. Unfortunately, the Kurosaki family seems to be made up entirely of people who can._

 _"I'm home." Karin's voice called out, attracting the attention of all three men. "Soccer club ended early today 'cause one of the coach's daughters got sick."_

 _"Ah, Karin!" Isshin yelled, making Ichigo and Toshiro flinch. "Welcome back! I was just reacquainting myself with your future husband again!"_

 _"...What?" That was all the warning they had before Karin ran up the stairs to see her brother standing beside her dad who was carrying her soccer friend and maybe-crush in his arms._

 _"What!"_

 _"Hey Karin." Ichigo greeted, "Dad and Toshiro already knew each other but Toshiro didn't know dad was here so I thought I'd introduce them."_

 _"Hello, Kurosaki." Toshiro greeted despite the blush on his face._

 _"Oh, are we having a guest for dinner?" Yuzu asked as she walked in carrying groceries. "I'll set up an extra seat at the table."_

 _No, thank you but I'm no-" Toshiro tried to object, only to be interrupted by his former captain._

 _"Thank you, sweetheart! Don't worry Toshiro's a bit shy but he'll be staying for dinner! It's been so long since we've seen each other that we need to get to know each other again!"_

 _"I… but."_

 _"Just stop protesting and save yourself the trouble," Karin warned, "If you know him you must know that it's pointless to resist."_

 _"I… yeah, I guess so."_

 _"Welcome back to the family!" Isshin yelled and finally set Toshiro down so they could all have dinner together. (3)_

* * *

"Yes, their father and I were acquainted before I became aware they were related. He still sometimes drops by Soul Society to see us but usually spends time in the world of the living."

"He retired there?" Toshiro nodded. "I see, I suppose being powerful and having friends in as many high places as you and Ichigo do gives you a bit of leeway to break a few of the less important rules depending on the cause."

"I suppose so." Toshiro agreed and realized both of them were reaching the end of the time they had to relax. "I should probably start heading back, what about you."

Takahiro looked up at the sun in thought, then nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm expected to attend a ceremony soon so I should go get changed.

They nodded at each other and turned, going their separate ways.

* * *

"Shihoin." Toshiro commanded the moment he stepped inside his office and sealed the door with kdio. "I presume that was your work."

A black cat appeared suddenly and nodded. "Soi-fon lent me a few people for the times when I was busy but yes, that was me."

The two of them were, of course, referring to the black shadows Toshiro had seen and felt as he spent time with Kanna and her brother.

"Ah, yes. Yoruichi was able to get you a good deal of very information." Urahara commented, cheerful as always, as he fanned himself. "Would you like to see it now?"

At Toshiro's nod Urahara immediately sprung up and explained with his slightly-too-cheerful-to-be- real smile. "We learned that the brother, Takahiro, is the clan head of a family that's more important than we originally thought. However, despite this, their family has been almost completely swept under the radar without losing any power."

"I thought they were a small noble family."

"They are, it's just that they have more connections than we expected."

"I see continue," Toshiro ordered with a nod.

"Also, we learned that Kanna really likes the hair clip you bought Karin-chan but doesn't know what it does. Maybe you should buy her one too, it would probably make her really happy! And then you could be going around getting gifts for two girl and it would be just like you have two girlfriends. Karin is already friends with Kanna so I personally don't think she would mind-"

Urahara suddenly stopped as he realized there was an unusually powerful and cold ice creeping up his legs (though he kept fanning himself despite that).

"Please continue with _only_ relevant information."

"That was about one of the people you asked us to look into so it was relevant!"

" _Please continue with only relevant information._ "

Urahara smirked but did as he was asked to. "Part of what you should know about what I said earlier is that it's more relevant than you might think. I'm trying to say that we couldn't get much information on their clan- something you should probably pay attention to."

"How is it possible for _you two_ to have not gotten much information? I don't think I believe you at all, regardless of what you say to support that."

"Not much information for us," Yoruichi the cat explained as she (somehow) rolled her eyes, "Kisuke just likes to over- dramatize everything."

Toshiro paused and ran a hand through his hair in slight frustration. "That makes sense, though is worrying in it's own way. Could you please leave a file with all the information you found on my desk for me to look through?"

"Of course, Shiro-chan!" Urahara burst out and began collecting what appeared to be piles of paper he hid somewhere. "I'll even add a kido seal for you to surprise anyone who tries to open it without your permission! It won't kill them though, promise!"

The stack of paper was soon large enough to barely fit into one of the folders Toshiro had, with the ends peeking out of the sides.

"Thank you for your help, Urahara." Toshiro gave a nod to the man and saw his expression turn unusually serious. He looked up in slight worry at a man who never looked like that even in life or death situations. "Urahara?"

"I hope you'll be able to prove your friends are not involved, Toshiro."

Toshiro knew his eyes had widened and his face was now showing his emotions. "I… yes, thank you and… I hope so too."

Just like that the serious moment was over and Urahara was back to being an annoying, obnoxious man-child who skipped away as he left the division.

Toshiro put the folder on the side of his desk for him to look over on a later date and began to get a head start on paperwork. For half an hour the only sounds he heard were his pen on the parchment, meaning Matsumoto had likely gone drinking again.

If she came back intoxicated _again_ he would-

"Shiro?" Toshiro was snapped out of his thoughts of revenge as Karin peeked her head in. "Oh, I should have known you'd be off doing paperwork."

"Yes, me and Takahiro ended our walk together a while ago because we both had business to take care of." He watched as she moved closer to him, "You?"

Karin leaned down and kissed her boyfriend, then straightened back up with a smile. "We were just hanging out like always, it was nice. Though I think it's more nice to see your face like this, you're still not completely used to dating someone, huh?"

The last sentence was spoken because after the kiss Toshiro couldn't quite fight down a heavy blush that had appeared on his neck and cheeks.

"I've always had more important things to do with my time than get into a relationship." His excuse was met with an instant raised eyebrow and retort.

"Yes, yes, we all know you're a prodigy who accomplished what no one else was able to at your age in the early years of your life at the cost of any sort of social ability."

"Personally I think I understood how to get people to do what I want them to do better than almost everyone else, even if I could get easily riled up before I met you."

"...When most people say social ability they mean friends, not an ability to manipulate others to do what you want them to." Toshiro flinched slightly at the manipulation line, his mind instantly moving to Aizen's manipulation of everyone around him. When Karin noticed that she reached down and ruffled his hair, much to his irritation.

"What are you doing?" Rather than anger, the words were said with something resembling a resigned exhaustion which made Karin smirk.

"I'm punishing you for overthinking this and worrying about absolutely nothing. It's pretty easy to tell when you are, so I'm snapping you out of it. You can thank me later." Toshiro sent her a lopsided smile which Karin returned with her usual strong smirk.

"You weren't able to tell when I was overthinking something before we officially got together in our current relationship." Toshiro reminded her and she leaned back against his desk.

"And that led to us running around everywhere loaded with misunderstandings and trying desperately to say the same thing to each other but getting too worried by the end. I personally don't want to go back to that experience with you ever again."

"Thanks Karin."

Instead of answering with a 'you're welcome' Karin leaned down over Toshiro and kissed him again, the smirk on her face transforming into a real smile.

* * *

1) I say five instead of four because I like the idea that the Shibas have been added back in and now it's five again! I'm pretty sure I'm right about the numbers but if someone knows I messed that up please tell me.

2) I think this might be lightly inspired by the milliner's rook's 'What a time to be alive' and purpleswans 'meeting the family' but I'm not sure how much. And considering I have to put down two people who had similar story concepts I'd say this isn't anything original or something which belongs to a specific person. It's more the logical conclusion to writing a HitsuKarin story after the truth about Ichigo came out.

3) So Ichigo is a late teenager here and it's maybe a month or two after the Quincy war. In the normal part of the story time has passed so he's much older but I figure that Orihime and Ichigo's souls will stop aging 'cause I want them to and I'm probably not going to include much about their son. He's adorable but he wouldn't leave much time for anything else in this story.


	19. Chapter 19

"Karin, can I talk to you for a second?" At hearing her boyfriend's voice Karin looked up, her hand stilling over the paperwork she was working on.

"Sure, what?" He did not answer so she blinked several times in rapid succession, waiting for him to start. Right as the pause began to become awkward Toshiro sighed and pointed to the door.

"In private."

 _We're in the middle of a training room that's pretty much empty, how much more private do we need to be for this conversation?_ Karin thought as she followed Toshiro out of the room. _If this is about punishing the Lieutenant or something equally stupid I'm going to hit him._

Currently she was annoyed because the sooner she finished working on her paperwork the more free time both she and Toshiro would have. Time they could then use to see Kanna and her brother, their group of four was a success every meeting. Karin found when they saw each other she and Toshiro were always able to relax.

Sure, with the possible traitor tensions were higher, but Toshiro and Takahiro had bonded perfectly over politics as she and Kanna had through fighting. They matched perfectly with each other and were always able to find something to talk about.

She found that they were actually leaving the building and then using shunpo to get as high as they could. Very few Shinigami made use of the fact that they need less oxygen than humans, something that was discovered by Orihime.

Once the couple reached a point where they could see the clouds a good distance below them they stopped and Karin waited for Toshiro to explain. Her earlier anger at being interrupted and dragged out of the training room had completely disappeared, replaced by concern for the unusual way her boyfriend was acting.

"Shiro?" She tried calling, but said person seemed to be completely lost in thought; preparing himself for the incoming conversation. He was taking deep breaths with his eyes closed as a method to help him relax.

"Taicho?" Karin finally called out, now more than a little worried. That word snapped Toshiro out of his thoughts and seemed to remind him of what he needed to do.

"Right, sorry Karin." He took one more deep breath and then really looked at her. She couldn't completely hide a slight flinch at his eyes. Now that she was able to focus on them she was truly able to see how _tired_ he was. The only comfort she had was the fact that those eyes still contained a determined light in them.

The deep breath seemed to have steadied him enough for him to continue. "Do you remember the conversation we had a little while ago? The one about me digging into the pasts of the members of my squad because we suspected them and you saying it was fine because I could keep those who were loyal safe?"

"I do, have you found some people who you think betrayed us? What, do you need some help subduing them or something? I appreciate being told Shiro, but I'd have thought you'd talk to the second division on capturing them instead of me."

"No, I'm not even sure I'm technically allowed to tell you but I know everyone in the Gotei Thirteen trusts you, whether by knowing you personally or through your family, so I know no one will care except possibly Soi-fon."

"But she'll change her mind as soon as Yoruichi and the Soutaicho make it obvious they support your decision." Toshiro nodded to show he agreed.

"What is it then? If not for work or a job you want me to do I don't see much reason for you to tell me about this investigation. Or what? Do you want more emotional support." Then, seeing how exhausted Toshiro looked again, Karin stopped her teasing and waited for him to explain.

"I don't have any proof yet or anything. I'm mostly just what they've seen but… remember how we suspected and started looking into Kanna and Takahiro? How we were worried about them and I sent people to spy on them?"

"...Yes," Karin's voice did not shake but she was much more unsure of herself than she had been at the start of the conversation.

"I'm afraid Urahara and Yoruichi have been looking in and while they haven't found any proof they also haven't been able to prove their innocence. Instead they've found certain facts which are honestly making the two seem more and more suspicious."

Karin could feel some of the 'life' always present in her soul die. The spirit and enthusiasm always present despite her cynical attitude disappeared and Toshiro watched as the usually sarcastic and snarky girl became little more than a life-less shell for a moment. He paused, slightly uncertain of what to do to comfort her.

It was times like this that he had to accept how hard their relationship was. On one had he was her military leader- not meant to supply comfort but instead to give orders. From that perspective he really should simply take her off the case as he could see she was too emotionally invested in it's contents.

On the other hand he was still her boyfriend. That part of him wanted to pull her close and comfort her and tell her 'everything will be alright' regardless of common sense.

Eventually he just chose an in-between thing where he didn't say anything, only pulled her into his arms and let her stay there.

"But… they haven't proven anything yet… right?"

"...Not yet" Toshiro answered after a moment's hesitation, "but I want you to be prepared for the worst. Just… don't be too surprised if things turn out bad. I'm looking for something to prove their innocence so just wait until you hear something about that."

"Okay, I can do that." Karin took a deep breath and then pushed herself away from Toshiro so she was standing on her own. However, she kept her hands on his arms and looked him in the eyes. "Will you be able to keep this investigation up?"

For several seconds Toshiro remained silent, unsure of how to answer her. Especially after getting his position as captain he was used to always being the one who comforted other people when work got too hard for them. This… was a bit of a new experience.

"I… yes, I think I'll be fine. I suppose I'll have to rely on you to snap me out of it if I start overworking myself again, huh."

"Yeah, I can do that."

"Thanks." The two split off from each other and Karin hesitated for another second before leaving to return to her paperwork.

In a flash of shunpo- which happened so suddenly that she ended up scaring the two unseated division members walking by- Karin appeared back in front of her office. The tower of paperwork was easily visible through the slightly opened door, but for once Karin didn't give an exaggerated, childish groan at the sight of it.

Instead, she walked inside the office, got out a pen, sat down in front of her work… and stared at expressionlessly.

To Karin the idea that someone she put her trust in had betrayed her was preposterous. She wouldn't have believed it if it were not for the fact that Toshiro, someone she trusted more than anyone else, had told her.

She continued staring blankly at the work in front of her but for an entirely different reason than normal. While she usually didn't see the point in paperwork and had to work up the motivation to do it now her mind was occupied with other thoughts.

 _How should I treat them now? I mean, they haven't proven anything yet but maybe I should be a bit more cautious around them._ Karin began playing with the pen between her fingers as she thought. _I mean, it's not like I show anyone everything about me… but I've already let most of my masks down around them…_

Several shinigami walking by looked over, curious as to what had completely trapped Karin's attention that was apparently not their captain. (They knew exactly what her face looked like when she was lost in thought thinking of him.)

One of the more brave and less starstruck shinigami eventually got curious and slowly made his way over.

"Um… Third seat Kurosaki?"

Karin glanced up immediately, relieving everyone that she could still be communicated with. She raised an eyebrow, her expression quickly transforming into one of barely (not at all) concealed annoyance.

"Yes?"

"Er… It's just I wanted to know… I mean all of us wanted… well we… are you okay?" He finally managed to stammer out, his curiosity and bravery turning into anxiousness and fear out of self - preservation.

Karin considered the question for a half second, then turned to all the shinigami watching their exchange with her usual smirk.

"Of course I am, I'm just a bit tired. Is it really my fault one of Shiro's hypothetical situation questions has made me confused and distracted. Don't worry about it." She lied through her teeth and everyone smiled at seeing her back to normal.

Immediately, Karin pulled out more paperwork and began furiously working through it- using the bare minimum amount of concentration she could to make the work at least acceptable before continuing to the next page. The shinigami surrounding her all relaxed at her behavior (even if it was a little strange and not, well… Karin) and returned to their normal work.

While Karin was not a huge fan of acting she could definitely stand it if it meant getting people who were bothering her off her case. Besides, it was not entirely false, Toshiro specifically said he had no proof and that it was just a theory so it could be considered a hypothetical situation.

On the paperwork a large black line appeared- formed from her hand shaking as she wrote. Karin scowled and took a deep breath, she knew she was lying to herself but at the moment she decided she did not care.

No way was she going to let anyone learn what she was actually feeling.

* * *

A one-of-a-kind child ice captain walked out onto the training grounds outside of his division. Usually he would not consider training until his paperwork was all done. He just could not relax, train or have fun with the knowledge that there was something he should be working on instead, so him being out in the middle of the day like this was a rare sight.

Rather than any kind of special bankai training or secret kido work Toshiro found himself going through the basic moves over and over again while simultaneously being close enough to meditation for him to hear his zanpakuto. (2)

 _Hyorinmaru._ He commanded the presence of his spirit with that one word and his request was immediately granted. He could feel the spirit come to the edge of his consciousness.

 _What is it, hatchling? The blizzard inside your inner world has gotten much more fierce. What can I do to help with that?_

Toshiro relaxed slightly once he became aware of that fact. Usually he would have known right away but he had been distracted recently.

Him relaxing lowered the speed of the wind and fierceness of the storm, much to Hyorinmaru's appreciation and thanks.

 _I don't like this investigation._ Toshiro explained to his spirit. _I know it's my duty and I know I have a responsibility to all the people under me to look into this. I know I also have a responsibility to Kanna and her brother to research this for them and come to the truth but this actual time period of researching it is causing a drain on my energy._

 _That is to be expected. You are used to doing something you don't enjoy for the sake of getting to a goal you have, but this is different. You are used to being able to power through the part of your mind which says you don't like this and your greatest limit being your physical capabilities. This, though, is emotionally taxing._

Toshiro scowled and the temperature in his surrounding area dropped immediately, his frustration causing snow to fall from the sky.

 _So what do I do? I know I need to finish this but if my work quality decreases because it's too emotionally taxing then nothing will be solved._

There was a pause from Hyorinmaru and the only sound Toshiro could hear came from the snap of his repeated, instinctive swings.

Finally he felt Hyorinmaru come even closer to the forefront of his mind and speak again, but this time the voice was softer, resembling a whisper.

 _I am sorry to say that I, personally, have never experienced something like this. However, I can tell that talking to me about it has helped you calm down quite a bit, even if I can't completely relate to your current situation. Why don't you try talking to Karin about it? (3)_

For once, Toshiro's swingings stilled. His zanpakuto had started calling her 'Karin' instead of 'Kurosaki' about the same time he did so that was not a surprise.

The idea however, was not something he had ever considered.

Yes, he went to her to talk about his troubles or to get advice. He had done that on this specific case before as well, but to him his zanpakuto had always seemed like it would always know Toshiro better than anyone else.

But instead, it was the one suggesting he go to Karin.

Toshiro paused for a short half-second, then nodded. Setting the wooden bokken he had been using on the side Toshiro left for the office he knew Karin would be in to work of her emotions if she was not at the training grounds. The office was a more general one that other tenth division members would be in to sort paperwork and the like so Karin would not be alone and end up destroying the building to work off her frustration.

"Karin, are you in here?" Toshiro called as he walked in the door. The surrounding shinigami pretended to carry on with their work while spending most of their energy watching him.

Karin looked up and then smirked, seeing the immediate parallel between his actions and her usual ones when she comes to both him.

"What's up Shiro?"

"Want to train together? We have a bit to talk about and I believe it would be most efficient if we were to multitask.

Karin instantly realized what he was referring to when he mentioned what they would have to talk about and agreed. She hated paperwork anyways.

The surrounding shinigami parted like the sea as their superiors walked about, whispering to each other. Toshiro was pretty sure he heard one person whisper " _Do you think they're planning out their wedding already?_ " but promptly ignored them.

If nothing else, he was glad Matsumoto was not in the room to hear that today. He had no idea what kind of overreaction she would have and decided he didn't want to find out.

The grounds were completely empty. They had been sparse before but Toshiro supposed the lowering temperature he was unconsciously giving out must have made the few stragglers flee. Still, just to be safe while they discussed classified information, Toshiro constructed a kido barrier to keep their conversation from being heard.

"What did you want to talk about?" Karin asked, speaking clearly despite her exhaustion formed from what she had been thinking about. Even just a month ago she would have been stuttering or sarcastic when speaking to her captain because she liked him, and, despite having gotten much closer to him, she had to admit she wanted to go back to that time. Not understanding each other was better than the idea that her friends might betray her.

"Actually this was Hyorinmaru's idea." By this point both Toshiro and Karin were standing in the middle of the training grounds and had stopped walking, so Toshiro was easily able to see the surprise that flashed over Karin's expression.

"It was?"

"He told me how we're both going through the same thing at the same time. There are others who are going through something similar but I trust you best and we thought it might help us to talk to each other about all this."

"Maybe," Karin agreed, unsheathing her zanpakuto. "And you want to train at the same time? You sure we won't get distracted talking at the same time?"

"Pretty sure, besides, it's efficient."

Though not entirely a joke that was able to get the first laugh out of Karin since they had talked earlier. Toshiro relaxed a bit, seeing Karin's formerly tired expression shift the a, while still tired, smirk.

"Of course that's what you care about, glad to see _that_ hasn't changed." Karin lifted up her sword and began doing simple swings. Shortly after she could see Toshiro follow out of the corner of her eye. The steady beat of movement continued for about forty-five seconds before Toshiro finally spoke again, breaking the silence.

"So, I've already discussed this a bit with Hyorinmaru, would you like to talk about it?" For a moment Karin considered his words, weighing the pros and cons. Then, as expected of her personality, decided it would not hurt and nodded.

If she was going to talk about this to someone other than her zanpakuto about this it would be Toshiro anyways.

"You know, a while ago I was talking to Kanna." She paused and saw Toshiro give her his full attention, his eyes focusing on her even as the swings continued. "It was a little while after you met Takahiro, and you two had been talking about what point duty becomes more important than personal interests or friends."

"I told you though," Toshiro quickly interrupted, "Yes, I value my duty as a captain more than relationships and other responsibilities but not meaning it's more important than you. I only mean to say my job as a captain emcompases protecting everyone I care about as part of the duty and that's why it's so important to me."

Karin smirked again, though this time there was more energy in her eyes. "Don't worry about that, I was never doubting you. You honestly think now would be the time where I start thinking you might care about your job more than me. You told me classified information and are taking the time to talk to me about it."

Toshiro looked away with blush on his cheeks, not wanting to admit she was completely right. He took a deep breath and absentmindedly noticed it was the first time she had gotten a response like this from him in a while. He missed this.

"Anyways," Karin continued, "Kanna asked me for my opinion on the matter and to be honest I had trouble coming up with an answer. I eventually told her that I wasn't sure I could be like you or Ichi-nii, giving one person up for something you care about more. Even after you hurt Momo when fighting Aizen you kept working as a captain and trying to become stronger, I don't think I would be able to do that."

"I think you would," Toshiro voiced as Karin paused in her explanation. "I allowed my emotions to control my thought and resolved to not let that happen again. I'm sure you would be able to do the same thing. And I'm like you, I don't let all that many people get close to me so it makes sense for us to react the same way."

"Yeah, well, I don't know if I could. So I told her that. I told her I didn't think i would be able to go against a friend I cared about for Soul Society. Like sure, i would be able to fight them for the people under my command, but actually trying to kill them would be impossible. I said I didn't think I would be able to do that."

After another pause filled with only the sounds of their swings Karin finally voiced the real issue that had been bothering her the entire time.

"Do you… do you think when I told her that she _knew_ she was a spy and _knew_ she was going to betray me and still said nothing?"

Toshiro's swinging stilled and he found he actually had no response for her. He knew he had to say _something_ to make Karin feel better but was at a slight loss for what that would be. Instead, he decided to leave other possibilities open.

"I have no way of knowing what she was thinking. I also don't yet know whether she is actually a traitor who was just spying on us. I honestly don't know. Yes, there's a chance that the situation you're describing is exactly what happened but… I feel like it's silly to base so much trust on that fact when you know it hurts you. I told you to be prepared but I don't want that thought to consume you. It seems just as likely to me that her intentions were completely different or she has never betrayed us at all and I'm being paranoid."

"Paranoid?"

"Yeah, I mostly asked Urahara and the others to look into this so that I would know for certain I could trust my friends. So… don't worry about it until we know what actually was going through her head during that time. I wouldn't worry about it."

"I see." Karin paused as she mentally reviewed what he had just said, then genuinely smiled. "Thank you, I feel like I needed that."

Toshiro nodded, agreeing and happy to have been able to talk with her, even if it was about a rather depressing topic.

Toshiro gave his thoughts on the matter and the two kept talking even as the sun began to lower and it became later and later in the day.

Eventually even the impossibly powerful arms of Karin began to get slightly sore from working for hours on end with no break. Toshiro was helping to keep both of them cool but there was only so much he could do when she was heating up from the inside.

When Toshiro suggested they take their first break Karin agreed, setting down her zanpakuto (a good deal heavier than the wooden bokken but that was why she used it) Karin sat herself down on the field and took in deep breaths.

Toshiro did the same though his breaths were much less frantic than hers. The sound from their repeated swings was replaced with sound from their individual breathing.

It did not take long for their breathing to become more normalized and soon they were ready to start practicing again.

"Oh, Shiro." Toshiro looked up at Karin in confusion and waited for her to continue. "Will you help me train with something, I'll be right back."

Curious as to what Karin would intentionally keep a surprise from him Toshiro agreed and Karin immediately used shunpo to vanish. In less than a minute she had returned, the clip he had bought for her resting in her hand.

The silver on the clip shined but it was nothing compared to the bright red light coming from the sun hitting the ruby in just the right angle. The bright colors allowed Toshiro to instantly recognize it for what the clip was.

With a smirk on her face which was becoming more and more like her normal one as time went on Karin powered some reiatsu into the clip and watched as the reishi-powered blade appeared off the side.

"Willing to help me with this?"

Toshiro looked at the glowing blade of energy and nodded, both of them standing up to begin.

* * *

1) Sailor Star 9, I have to agree with your point. Toshiro and Matsumoto in ep 115 probably should have been able to recognize Isshin's already returned reiatsu so I'm just assuming he's gotten really good at hiding it. Even Ichigo would probably be able to notice captain-level reiatsu coming from someone he knows has none and there were other Shinigami in town who should really have realized. So yeah, I'm just gonna say he was probably just really good at hiding his power from everyone.

2) I mean, sometimes it's easier to get in a state like that when you're working on something. I can think about things more easily when I walk sometimes than when I'm sitting down, so I don't think it's too crazy to imagine that.

3) Okay, this is just my personal headcanon but I really, really want Hyorinmaru to be a HitsuKarin shipper because that would be adorable.

4) Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review! :)


	20. Chapter 20

For practice the couple decided to try out sparring. While Karin fought only with the clip in her hands Toshiro fought with his unreleased zanpakuto. Karin was not good enough at using the clip to go against a captain's shikai but soon it would be able to beat an unseated officer's full strength. Karin decided she would need to test that.

Toshiro was enjoying the time he spent with Karin, though he could not help the slight flicker of worry that kept appearing as they fought. Strength-wise, Karin would not be able to only use the clip in a fight against any of those suspected to be traitors.

His hesitance showed in his fighting, though the only reason Karin was able to notice was due to how well she knew him. After several minutes of sparring the distracted nature of Toshiro became more and more apparent to her until finally she snapped.

"What's wrong with you today, Shiro? You're fighting weird." As crass as the statement was, Toshiro noticed the strong trace of genuine concern underneath the words.

And, due to noticing that touch of genuine emotion, Toshiro decided that her question was something he should answer. Something she deserved to know.

"I… I guess you could say I'm being a bit paranoid-"

"In my humble opinion I'd say you're always 'a bit paranoid', why are you treating this like it's something new? Or did you not realize you were paranoid until just now?"

Karin's teasing made Toshiro sigh. Though he was happy she was willing to listen to him, he wanted her to take this a bit more seriously. He could not entirely blame her though, as he knew she was using the sarcastic edge of her personality as a distraction. Easier to feel like everything is fine if you act the same way as normal.

Still, he also knew that she was succeeding at slowly chipping away at his sanity with a smile on her face, so he was a little less sympathetic than he might otherwise have been.

Karin's patience quickly ran out and she prompted him to continue his explanation with a look consisting of a single raised eyebrow. It immediately worked as Toshiro got uncomfortable being stared at like that.

"Anyways. I'm just trying to say that I'm a bit worried. You… there's no telling what might happen to you and I'd rather I knew you were going to be safe. If you keep being involved in this investigation I worry you'll get hurt." The expression Karin sent him showed exactly what she thought of his absolute stupidity.

"I thought you were supposed to be a super smart and genius prodigy… you're really not acting the part right now. I'll be fine, I'm a third seat in your squad. You should know that."

"I know you're strong, but it doesn't have to only me physical damage. We're looking into our friends and that weighs on both of our consciences. If you get hurt because someone you trust has betrayed you then-" he cut off and took a deep breath, trying to find words to explain his thoughts. "We… we all thought Aizen was completely on our side. I trusted him to protect Momo and for him to have so much of her trust. Then it turns out he was a traitor the entire time and he almost kills her because she can't stop loving and trusting him."

"But I'm not Momo. You don't need to worry about this, besides, didn't you get stronger for the soul purpose of making sure that never happened again?"

He pursed his lips and made no response while his mind was occupied with flashes of memory- the scream he heard from Momo when Aizen faked his death, the glassy look in her eyes when he ran her through with Hyorinmaru, her body falling to the ground as blood leaked out of her from the wound _he_ gave her.

"I… you're right, and I know you won't go and still believe in someone who betrayed you like she did, you'd be more like Kira or Hisagi in how they reacted to betrayal. I know."  
"So there's no problem, right?"

"It's just… my goal is pretty much to protect you." Toshiro ran a frustrated hand through his spiky, white hair- why was this so hard for him to put into words. "And everyone else too, of course, but I feel like I'm going to fail again."

"How about you think about it this way. If something happens to me it probably won't be _because_ of you, so what matters is you getting me to a safe place if something happens. As long as you make sure I'm not bleeding to death on my own we should be fine."

"I don't really understand."

"We can keep watch over each other. That way if something happens to you and the Captain Commander is too busy to worry about it I can take care of it. The same for if something happens to me, what do you think?"

"...I can try… I suppose."

"Good. Then if you're done needlessly worrying-" Toshiro shot her a deadly glare and the room's temperature dropped a few degrees "-we can get back to training."

After several seconds of Toshiro giving her a disbelieving, tired but somehow still affectionate look he nodded and stood up.

"Though maybe we should move," he suggested, "I think your 'fan club' might find us and I'd rather not have to train while being watched by those girls."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure they're _our_ fan club now. Especially since they know we're officially dating, they're going to consider us as one."

"Oh, _wonderful_." Toshiro muttered sarcastically, then returned to the original problem. "Anyways, will we be moving so… our fanclub doesn't interrupt us?"

"I feel like they know better than to try to interrupt us after last time but sure, if it makes you feel better. Where to?"

"The forest. It doesn't make sense to just wait and hope the problem won't happen again. If we can avoid it we should."  
"...And the solution is just to switch training areas as often as we can?"

A simple nod was the only response she was given, as if that was obvious and she should have already known. Karin smirked and rolled her eyes at how seriously Toshiro was taking the situation, but also didn't want their training to be interrupted so she agreed.

In a flash both shinigami and disappeared and reappeared in a flicker of shunpo.

Karin activated her clip and watched as the tool turned her reishi into a blade in a process that was becoming easier and easier as time went on.

She looked up and saw her boyfriend was doing the same. They made eye contact as they watched each other for any sign of movement, then, simultaneously, they _moved_.

* * *

Several hours later both Karin and Toshiro were hot, exhausted and reiatsu-depleted, causing them to collapse onto the floor when they returned to the barrack (well, Karin did. Toshiro just calmly walked back to his desk and layed down on it).

The couple was finally able to focus on the work they were supposed to have been doing the whole day- paperwork. However, despite their lack of need to distract their mind from everything that had been happening the process was not as smooth as it could have been.

"Ooooooooow…" Karin moaned in a long-drawn out breath as she tried to lift her arm up. Even after Toshiro- who was by far the less tired of the two- helped her into a spare desk in his office where they had put her paperwork she found she could not complete it. It was simply too much effort to raise her arm for the work. Unfortunately she had been using her dominant hand to practice all afternoon and was completely incapable of writing with her other one.

Toshiro sent looked up with his eyes when he heard her speak-making an effort to move his face and body as little as physically possible.

"You okay Karin?"

"No."

"Oh." The ever-so-intelligent response was the result of a brain (even a genius one) exhausted and focusing on paperwork at the same time as he spoke to her. On the plus side, her response made him decide to set down his pen and completely look up from the paperwork.

There were several seconds of silence which was far more awkward than the peaceful one they usually had together. Shakily, Toshiro then stood up and slowly made his way over to a shelf containing a device with a screen on it among a shelf of books.

Reaching out, Toshiro pressed several icons on the screen and vaguely noticed Karin was looking up at him in confusion.

"Shiro? You okay?"

Any response he might have had was cut off by the traditional flute music which began playing from the screen. He slowly turned around- making sure to not pull any of his sore muscles- and answered her question.

"I thought it'd be easier for us to relax if I played some music. Do you want me to turn it off? I'd rather not have to come back here."

"Nah, this is good." Karin mumbled as she leaned against the desk, her eyes closing and her head swaying slightly in accordance with the music.

"Don't fall asleep now," Toshiro warned as he hobbled back to his desk, taking great care to not collapse or hurt himself. "I'm not sure what I'd be able to do with the paperwork if you go and do that now."

"You could try kissing the sleeping princess to wake her up." Even in his tired state Toshiro's cheeks became slightly pink at this, though not the crimson red they would have been before the couple got together.

"I'm pretty sure if I did that you would wake up in a shock and lead to one or both of us getting hurt as you panic."

"Yeah, guess I don't really make the best princess. Oh well, guess that means I get to stay asleep." In a heartbeat Karin had closed her eyes, the music having pulled her into a deep slumber.

Giving a quick glance at the clock Toshiro sighed and decided to wake her up in an hour. It would give her plenty of time to finish the paperwork and the work would definitely be done better if she was able to rest in between.

He looked through a cabinet in his desk and pulled out a timer with an alarm to alert him when one hour had gone by. He glanced up slightly to see Karin peacefully sleeping on her desk with a relaxed aura to her.

Looking down at his paperwork Toshiro had to bite back a groan at the thought of the work ahead of him. He would greatly prefer just sleeping as well.

 _Then again_ , he thought as he glanced up at his sleeping girlfriend, _one of the things she wanted to help me with was learning to relax. Especially in a time like this._

The knowledge that his work would be a much better quality if he had already relaxed sealed the deal. Hesitantly, Toshiro set his pen down and leaned on the desk, trusting the alarm to wake him up so they could finish the work.

* * *

Karin looked up and found herself in the forest where Toshiro had first asked her out, though there were no fireworks in the background this time. The cool breeze made her hair sway slightly along with the flowers and leaves in the air.

"Karin!" A voice she instantly recognized called. Her suspicions were proven true when she turned around to see Kanna waving her over. Behind her friend was Takahiro and Toshiro, setting up a blanket under a cherry blossom tree in full bloom.

Karin ran over to said tree and sat down next to her boyfriend, directly across from the other two. A container of mochi and dango sat in the middle of the blanket, ready to be eaten.

Karin reached out and picked up the dango, enjoying the squishy texture the snack had when she bit into it. Kanna reached out and took the same while the boys enjoyed the tea they had laid out in front of them.

Soon both Karin and Kanna had finished their desserts, leaving only the accompanying sticks behind. Both girls looked up at each other, then down at their empty skewers, then over at the tree, then made eye contact again.

Simultaneous smirks appeared on both their faces.

The boys looked over, confused as to why the girls were suddenly standing up and walking over to the tree Kanna reached out with one hand and pulsed her reiatsu.

"Hado no Yottsu, Byakurai!"

While nowhere near as exact and perfected as Byakuya Kuchiki's, the control Kanna showed was startling. She managed to carve a easily-visible target modeled after a dart board, clueing the boys in to what they were doing.

Kanna went first, picking up the stick and holding it with a concentrated look as the tension rose. One second, then two.

Three!

In a breath Kanna expertly aimed her stick at the center of her target and managed to just barely miss the middle, her stick falling slightly to the right.

"Yeah!" Kanna cheered for herself and jumped into the air. It was times like this when Karin was glad she was a soul. No human, no matter how skilled, would be able to apply enough force into a long stick like theirs to do this. It both would not get more than a few feet after throwing and would never be able to stick to the tree.

But souls were able to break certain limits ordinary humans possessed. It was actually this, using it to have fun with her friends, not using it to fight with impossible amounts of force, that Karin thought she liked best about their abilities.

Toshiro and Takahiro both got up and joined the girls in their dango-stick throwing contests after a little encouragement on their parts- "We're fine" "No you're not, you'll probably die of boredom if you don't join us" "We're _souls_ " "You know what I mean" - and turned out to be surprisingly bad at the game.

"Shiro, you've got to stop holding it like you would a dagger, haven't you ever played darts before? How are you so bad at this?"

"Of course I haven't. I was pretty much isolated in my early childhood and since then I've been working as a shinigami! When would I have had time for this?"

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho has time to learn all sorts of things," Kanna added, "You could learn with her if you wanted to."

"The only reason she can do that is because I do so much of her work!"

With an angry trust Toshiro let out his frustration by throwing a stick he got from who-knows-where 90% of the way through the tree.

The image slightly disturbed the other three but they had to admit it was better than the whole area suddenly being covered with ice.

"So, Shiro, have you been hiding your otherworldly dart skills from us this entire time? Or is this just one of your many hidden talents? Maybe if I convince Rangiku to take you out when she goes to a party we'll learn more of those abilities." Karin suggested as she ran up and gave Toshiro a kiss in congradulations.

"Don't. You. Dare." Personally, Karin thought it was adorable to see Toshiro try to glare while a light blush coated his cheeks.

"We'll see~" Karin's smirk caused Toshiro to falter and Kanna to barely succeed at holding in giggles while Takahiro watched with amusement in the background.

As the day continued Karin found she was really enjoying herself. The wind brushed her hair to the side and a handful of cherry blossoms twirled around in front of her.

Reaching out, Karin attempted to grab one but it slipped through her fingers at the last second. Karin blinked, surprised. She was almost always able to catch them, so it was a bit of a surprise that she missed.

Then she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around, expecting to see her boyfriend or friends impatiently waiting for her, but they were nowhere to be found.

Another tap. Karin concentrated and realized that her eyes were closed, so she blinked them open and found herself starting at her captain/ boyfriend.

"Welcome back."

Karin rubbed her eyes and spent a moment processing everything. The barracks also had the sound of shinigami walking around and doing their work outside.

"Oh." Karin, wide awake now, immediately realized where she had been.

"How are you? It seems I exhausted you, you're usually a pretty light sleeper."

"I'm good, thanks. We have paperwork to do?"

"Right." Satisfied at seeing her awake, Toshiro turned around and began to leave, but was stopped by Karin's voice.  
"You know, I think… it would be a really nice idea if after the whole betrayal thing is over we head back to the forest you first asked me out. The one where Matsumoto tried to make us fall in love with fireworks. And maybe… if they're available… we can take Kanna or Takahiro there as well."

She looked up and the two made eye contact, allowing her to easily see the emotions- not through his face, that was his usual cold mask, but his eyes- that Toshiro was experiencing.

He was hesitant, not wanting to give any false hope and wanting to keep a realistic outlook, but at the same time she could also see the glimmer of hope he had. He also wanted to do that, and suggesting it could be done with or without those two made it possible for him to agree. That was not denying reality, just… keeping a bit of hope.

"Sure… if they're available… that'd be fun."

Karin nodded and looked back down at her paperwork, seeing Toshiro do the same out of the corner of her eye.

 _It was just a dream,_ she told herself _don't get your hopes up._

* * *

Toshiro walked down the hallway, having finished his paperwork and training for the day. His teal eyes looked around and found Kanna walking in the same direction.

"Kanna, do you need some help with that?" He asked, referring to the large boxes she was carrying. While not particularly heavy to a shinigami a label on the outside proved they were filled with easily breakable objects which had to be treated with care.

Kanna looked over and nodded, glad she would have some help. A closer look allowed Toshiro to see they were filled with glass tools the twelfth division used.

"Where are you carrying these?"

"My house. I got… I have a friend in the twelfth division that's given me these to use. It's not illegal to share those materials, so I want to demonstrate to my brother."

Toshiro nodded and could not quite shoot down the flash of suspicion he had at her words. While it might be good to be suspicious he did not want to start seeing clues out of thin air.

"I see. You're right, that's not illegal."

They passed through a town that had several children running past them, giggling. Toshiro was unable to destroy his jealousy at that image, even without showing anything on his face. He wondered if he would ever be able to do something like that, if he never did it before becoming a shinigami or while he was one due to the difference in power between him and everyone else.

Then he remembered Karin's suggestion of the four of them spending some time together at the forest outside the tenth division. That was… a very nice idea and if everything worked out maybe they could…

 _No_. He immediately thought, berating himself for allowing his mind to wander. _Don't lose track or your position and job._

Deciding that his mind would keep wandering if he allowed the silence to continue Toshiro began a discussion with Kanna, hoping it would distract him.

"I know your brother and I talk about this quite often but I don't believe I have ever heard your opinion on the matter. What do you think about central forty-six?"

Kanna appeared slightly startled at the question but nonetheless had an answer ready.

"I believe even with different members they have a responsibility to pay back any victims of the crimes the former central committed. If I remember correctly, these have been greatly increasing in recent times but there have been quite a few invasions done by people who were wronged in some way by the central. That would no longer be an issue if all the mistakes made were righted and it could save hundreds of lives."

Toshiro nodded along and found he could not exactly disagree with the moral principle behind her argument.

It would be nice if everything could work out so easily. He just did not believe the situation was as simple as she made it out to be.

"And how would you suggest the central fixes the mistakes of the previous one. If we ask for anyone who was wronged to come up and receive compensation then plenty of people will decide to not be honest and there are far too many people in Soul Society for that to work."

"Well… you could at least make an effort-"

"I believe the easiest way to accomplish that would first be going over the cases for every prisoner in Muken or the maggot's nest. It would allow the innocent to be sent free and identify those who have been obviously wronged but as a captain I have no authority over receiving those papers. I'm pretty sure even Soi-fon can't without the central giving her permission."

Kanna was silent with shock for several seconds before allowing herself to speak. "...Wouldn't it be bad for anyone to learn you don't completely agree with the central's decisions?"  
"No, quite a lot of the Gotei Thirteen doesn't agree actually. It wouldn't make me stand out at all from the rest. Besides, I think everyone agrees the new central should try to do _something_ different than the old one. Trying to fix their predecessors mistakes would fit that requirement."

"I admit I didn't expect you to be willing to go against the government."

"As a captain I'm afraid I essentially _am_ the government. I basically fill the role of being a government weapon which defends the country and just-so-happens to also have an individual personality and/or beliefs."

"...That's a rather interesting way of looking at it. You think the central would prefer if you had no personal characteristics other than you strength?"

"I know that to be true. But regardless, it's fine for me to admit I am not happy with the method the central used to deal with any they believed to go against it and would appreciate some difference in methods."

"I suppose it's good to know the captain's don't all agree with what the central is doing," Kanna mumbled as she took a right turn and Toshiro followed. "But what if you had an option. Would you be willing to go against the government to correct it's wrongs?"

Toshiro glanced over at her, slightly startled at the trace of hope he was able to hear in her voice as she asked that. He spent another half second considering her question, then shook his head. "No, I am willing to go against those who go against our government, just not because of our government. There is nothing about the structure of government itself that I feel is important, but the people- my subordinates and colleges- I all care about. I refuse to put them in danger, my greatest desire is to keep them all safe."

Kanna looked away, fighting to keep the emotion off her face and not wanting Toshiro to see her inner-battle.

"I see." Up ahead, a large house which the noble family resided in appeared and those guarding in front immediately ran down to help Kanna carry the boxes.

"Is that all you needed?" Toshiro asked and Kanna nodded as the men took the boxes from both Toshiro and her.

"Goodbye then."


	21. Chapter 21

A bead of sweat dripped off Karin's forehead as she continued to practice her swings. She was almost done and the sky kept becoming darker and darker but wanted to squeeze every last second she had into training.

Finally- after one swing in which she had to summon all her strength just to raise the blade- Karin set her zanpakuto down and collapsed on the ground.

She was taking in big, needy breaths and not even bothering to lift her arms to wipe some hair from her eyes. The sun, still fading from the sky, could be seen just over the tips of the trees in the distance.

"Karin, want to join me for dinner?" For a moment Karin was surprised, while she was relatively well liked and respected she never went to Matsumoto's level and became close friends with anyone other than Toshiro. She turned her head to see who had called out to her, then allowed her eyes to widen when she saw Kanna.

Said girl pulled up in front of Karin and offered a hand to help her up. With a great strain of effort Karin was (barely) able to lift her arm into Kanna's for the help. Luckily, after she was pulled up she was able to sort of gain some balance and did not immediately fall down.

Kanna looked like she was trying to hold in laughter at her friend's predicament but was skilled enough (through the training by her clan) to not burst out into giggles. Though Karin was pretty sure she still got a glimpse of a laugh cracking through before Kanna was able to bite her tongue and stop it.

Once she was, admittedly shakily, standing Karin finally worked up the strength the brust some hair from her eyes and made eye contact with her friend.

"Sure, where to?"

Kanna looked around and thought about it for a moment, then smiled and pulled out a magazine from a bag on her side. Looking at it, Karin recalled how her brother was able to talk the Ninth Division into starting up magazines and online news reports accessible through the phones Shinigami carried around on all their missions. Matsumoto was overjoyed once she realized what the magazines would cover.

Kanna quickly flipped through the pages, obviously having a pretty good idea of the page what she was looking for was on. Kanna's facial expression turned from concentrated to shining joy in an instant, wordlessly explaining she had found her page. As she considered that Karin also smiled at the thought that Kanna was able to relax so much around her despite her upbringing and ability to hide her emotions.

A traitorous part of her mind idly wondered how she could suspect a girl like this of being a spy before Karin consciously snuffed the train of thought out. Thinking like that would not help anyone protect the Gotei Thirteen, she was trained for this.

It just never had been so personal before now.

Karin once again cut off the direction her thoughts were heading and focused on the two-page spread Kanna was trying to show her of a cafe with seafood near a lake in Soul Society.

"Why this place specifically?" Karin asked as she leaned forward slightly to get a closer look. Kanna smiled and with a flourish of her hand began to present the place.

"It's right next to a lake and the people running the place are actually willing to let you eat while in the lake. Just up to your ankles or something but I heard they make really good skewers of different fish and you can play in the water while you eat them. They'll even be willing to bring the food out to the shore of the lake while you're in the water."

The idea did sound like fun to Karin, especially the part about getting to eat different types of skewers in the water. In fact, the idea sounded a lot like her dream- _that you can worry about making come true after we've found the traitors, idiot_ she told herself- of the picnic the four of them could have together.

"You've never been there before?"

"Nope. But I talked to a few different people about it and they all seemed crazy about the idea. It does sound like it could be a lot of fun so I don't see any problem with trying it out!"

Giving an enthusiastic, excited nod Karin looked for the address on the magazine and found it was farther away than she planned but not outside the realm of possibility.

"You know, I think Ichi...nii, my brother should start working on adding some sort of car or vehicle to Soul Society. It's becoming impossible to do anything far away unless you're a shinigami and the only mode of transportation we really have is a cart."

"I guess that idea never really occurs to him since he's one of the fastest beings in existence, or so the rumors say."

"Yeah, he is. He sometimes forgets the rest of us can't keep up with his shunpo when we go somewhere, but he at least always remembers Orihime." The only people who might be able to beat him in speed would be Yoruichi, a given, Soi fon, who can not beat him in pure speed but was more used to moving around with no wasted motions (and only excluding bankai), and some of the oldest captains.

"Do you think that's it?" Kanna asked seemingly out of the blue. However, when Karin looked up she saw a long open building next to the lake looking extremely similar to the one they had seen in the magazine.

"Only one way to find out!" the wind near the lake pulled the hair of both girls slightly to the side in a warm breeze and Kanna got an idea.

"Do you want to race down and see who gets there the fastest? How about the loser has to pay for lunch?" Karin looked a second away from refusing on the grounds of ' _No, of course I don't that's a stupid idea why would I waste my time doing that?_ ' but did not say anything.

Instead she turned to look at the restaurant for a moment then turned to stare at Kanna. Eventually the staring which had started to make Kanna uncomfortable- especially since it did not even seem like Karin was blinking- was broken up by her asking a question.

"Do you want to?"

"...I mean… yeah, I guess. It just sounded like fun but if you don't want to-"

"No," Karin shook her head to drive the point home while waving her off. "That sounds like a good idea, okay, on three."

"Got it!" Kanna called switching into a position she could more easily dive from and out of the corner of her eye saw Karin do the same. "One… two… _three_!"

Both girls exploded into blurs as their reiatsu sent them flying towards their target. Ignoring the feeling of missing a step on the stairs their actions called Karin found she enjoyed the freedom of the wind rushing past her face. It made her feel unrestrained and uncontrollable in a way few other things could.

By the time they reached the bottom both of them were laughing for no particular reason, slightly drunk on the exhilaration from the experience. There was no one outside for them to bump into or to see them like this so they were able to completely relax.

"Tie?" Karin suggested, taking in deep breaths despite it not having been anywhere close to the intense workout she was used to.

"Tie." Kanna confirmed with a smile full of energy that also reflected into her eyes. They took another moment to catch their breaths before entering the building for food.

* * *

As it turned out yes, you were allowed to order some skewers and go play outside or relax in the lake and just have the food brought to you. Kanna had brought them both swimsuits and towels in a bag to Karin's appreciation because really, she could already imagine the conversation she and Toshiro would have if he found out she went in her shinigami uniform.

The restaurant was, surprisingly, mostly empty today so Kanna and Karin were pretty much by themselves when they went out to the lake.

The sun was warm on them and the wind pleasant despite setting and the temperature of the water made up for any chill in the air. Karin had her clip on as well, it helping the nerves she felt at leaving her zanpakuto in the changing room.

"So what have you been doing recently, anything new happen with your family?" Karin asked, mostly to start up conversation.

Kanna tilted her head, "Well, they wanted to look at a few things I didn't know about so a friend I have in the twelfth helped me with that. Actually, I was able to get the captain's help bringing the research papers over."

Karin made a humming noise of understanding as she drew on the wet sand with her feet. "And did you two talk about anything? I know he and your brother enjoy debating about politics because of their positions but you take a more active role in your clan than me, did you do any talking about that?"

"Yeah, I asked him what he thinks central forty six should do to pay back all the people their predecessors harmed with their injustice. I mean, it's been a few decades. Surely they've gotten everything set up so that they can start worrying about those more long term minor issues."

The sun hat Kanna was wearing swayed slightly in the wind and she grabbed onto it for fear of it falling off.

"Oh, this is the first I've heard of that. What'd he say?"

"Mostly about how I was right in thinking the central should start paying everyone back but they both did not possess any method of finding out who was wronged and had no motivation to. He's apparently working on that but he doesn't have all that much power."

Karin nodded along, knowing that was probably the sort of situation he had trouble coming up with a solution which would solve all the problems.

"Is there a reason you have strong opinions about this specific subject or have you just been a political debater this whole time and never told me? I wouldn't have minded listening to you share your opinions if you wanted to and I know Toshiro wouldn't have."

"No, no, just this topic." Shaking her head to negate what Karin said Kanna took a large bite out of a skewer and could not completely stop her expression from lighting up in happiness. "I care about this because I feel there's a lot the previous central did which needs to be fixed. They should try to fix those misdeeds now and hey, maybe then they won't need us to go run around fixing as many rebellions if they solve their relationships before anything bad happens."

To Kanna's surprise, Karin actually laughed at that one. Looking up, she gave a questioning gaze which prompted the other girl to explain.

"Ah, well, I was just thinking about how when he was a teenager it seemed like Ichi-nii was dealing with a new battle or rebellion or war for or against Soul Society every other week so he would probably give your argument his full support."

"You were both alive then, right?"

Karin nodded and knelt down to the sand, drawing Kanna's attention when she started to trace lines and create a picture.

"So, here's a timeline. First my brother became a shinigami, then he went and invaded Soul Society, somehow survived though I didn't know where he had gone those few weeks for quite some time, then there was in invasion by Aizen during the winter war in which two arrancar showed up and where I first was able to confirm that my brother was a ghost."

"Confirm?"

"Yeah, he had been acting weird for a while but that was the first time I had seen him actually leave his body and confronted him about it."

Kanna nodded along but then abruptly stopped, caught on something she had said at the beginning of her story.

"I'm sorry… did you say he was a teenager?"

"You didn't know?"

"I mean, I'd heard rumors and stories about him but I definitely didn't believe he was a teenager. You can't possibly be serious, right?"

"Yup. He was fifteen and I was, like, ten or something. Kinda hard to remember now but I think I might have still been in elementary school."

Kanna blinked in surprise several times but then nodded, seemingly understanding what Karin was doing a terrible job explaining. Karin traced her foot in the sand as she waited for her friend's next question. The air and water were warm enough to enjoy themselves the even though the sun would start setting soon.

"When did you and taicho first meet by the way? I think I remember you saying something about still being alive when it first happened."

"We never told you?" Karin looked up from the timeline she had traced consisting of a line with various events labeled in surprise. "Well, I guess we haven't. I'll need to continue my story then. Anyways, after the first invasion Toshiro was sent to Karakura, the place we lived, out of a concern that the high reishi of the humans living there would draw another attack. He, his team and my brother pretty much worked on defending the place but I still had no idea there was a _war_ going on."

"I guess knowing that you're brother is a sort-of-ghost is still a lot of information to process by itself, though I'm a bit surprised your dad didn't tell you."

"Goat-face was still pretending to be a normal human and it took forever for him to tell us! He told my brother when he was still fifteen but nooooo, me and Yuzu had to wait for another few years before he had enough guts to tell us."

"I'm sensing a grudge."

"You're imagining things. Okay, so Shiro was staying in Karakura and one day I found him by… kicking my soccer ball and almost hitting him with it."

"Not the most romantic way to meet." Kanna commented while desperately trying- and obviously failing- to hide an amused smirk. A server came out and gave them the last of the skewers they had ordered so they would have plenty of time alone.

"Yeah, whatever. It's not like I could have actually hit him with it-he was still a captain. So I ran after my ball because I kicked it off and he gave it back to me. The next day I got into an argument with some people that was going to be settled over soccer and I found him and somehow convinced him to help me out, so that's how we met."

Kanna smiled and had a touch of something- not nostalgia, much closer to yearning with a touch of jealousy- that Karin could not place in her expression.

"Oh, right. And then a hollow attacked and he saved me so that's how I learned he was a shinigami. It was a pretty involved experience I wasn't expecting. Like, a week after I learn my brother was a shinigami I learned my new friend was one too. I think I became worried everyone would reveal themselves to be but, luckily, it was just my brother, Shiro, my brother's friends and my dad."

"Still a lot of people."

"Yup."

"That's sweet though. So he protected you? How romantic."  
Karin scowled, "That's the problem though, I don't want him to protect me. I want to be able to work alongside him."

"I'm not saying you can't, just that it's cute. Besides, there's a lot of problems with Soul Society as it is, maybe he can fix those too."

"So you can be lazy?" Karin teased and splashed a bit of the warm water on Kanna who desperately moved out of the way to keep it off her hat.

"Nope, though that's a nice side effect. I'm just saying that with how flawed our government is it's going to need to be changed eventually. I asked him and he thinks he can change it from the inside to be a better system."

"Yeah, both of us think so. What do you think?"

Only looking down at the water, Kanna refused to meet Karin's eyes for a second then turned to Karin with a solid wall of resolve in her eyes. (1)

"I think the government needs to be completely rewritten and changed from the foundation to succeed, especially one as long lasting as Soul Society's. The new one will essentially erase any faults of the predecessors because it's completely different while simultaneously allowing new ideas to be implemented."

"It's not so bad that it needs to be completely rewritten, right…" Karin checked, unsure of herself for once. The two of them made eye contact and Karin found that, unusually, she had the weaker resolve in this discussion.

"In the lower districts people are starving. They are barely surviving and yes, your brother and Taicho are fixing some of those problems, but there is too much for them to do. It would be faster to change everything."

"The other captains all help too, especially the Soutaicho-"

"Yes but those two are the biggest speakers. Besides, how many more people need to keep starving before we actually do something to change the government."

"...and the other shinigami? What about the souls who will be forcefully sent on or even, possibly, completely destroyed by going into an all-out revolution. What about the civilian souls who are going to get caught up in this mess just by being there? Not everyone who lives there agrees with Central Forty-Six"

"It's a worthwhile sacrifice to keep the majority of civilians from starving and crime down in the lower districts. If you look at the big picture it's better for everyone."

Karin got angry. Her eyes became darker and she abruptly stood up, a fire in there which had been absent until just now.

"That problem is getting _fixed_!" She yelled, her skewer forgotten on the beach. "We're getting it fixed! Going to these sorts of extremes without reason is worse than anything Central Forty-Six is currently doing! Sure, the central might have done worse things in the past but _now_ there's no motivation to getting people's souls destroyed. It's not like the government isn't doing _anything_ or like the people you're talking about have laws specifically to hurt them! It's going to _get fixed_! You're a soul reaper, it'll be yourself and your _friends_ who suffer if that happens!"

The last comment was the only one to really affect Kanna, causing her to flinch back slightly- as if physically damaged by the words.

"...I would be willing to let that happen if it meant righting the wrongs of the world. I may be noble but don't excuse that for ignorance," her voice began to build in volume, "I know what's been happening to those who aren't in a noble family! You can't possibly expect me to just ignore that! Besides, this current government has been around for a few decades and Soul Society is only a little bit better! We can't wait that long!"

Abruptly, Kanna turned around and left the area, rushing through paying with the server and leaving Karin feeling angry and guilty all at once.

* * *

"Shiro, can we talk?" Toshiro abruptly turned around, all but forgetting the paperwork he was working on at the sound of her voice. He had never heard Karin so… tired before.

He nodded and gestured to an empty seat in front of him. "Sit."

She did. Her hair was still flaked with sea salt and body still slightly wet but Toshiro made no comment as he waited for her to start.

"Kanna and I got into an argument."

Toshiro blinked. He could see how much this was upsetting her but did not yet have enough information to understand why.

"Is that unusual in some way? You enjoy sticking to your opinions, so it's not too rare for you to argue with someone."

"I know but this one was different. We both started yelling at each other but it wasn't like… because she offended me or anything. Not on a personal level, it was what she believed needed to happen to make Soul Society better. It was honestly more like we were enemies than friends in a fight… if that makes any sense to you."

"It does." Toshiro instantly said and he reached out with his hand to grab Karin's.

"You know, I don't think I would have come to anyone about this before now. I'm so used to solving all my problems on my own but… would you please… just listen."

"I will."

Karin looked up at him, a tiny sliver of gratitude visible against the exhaustion in her expression. "I remember… a couple of months ago or maybe less (2)… after you met Takahiro. You had brought up that you put your duty as a captain over a personal grudge because your job, that of a captain, allows you to protect the people most important to you."

Toshiro nodded, "Yes but… depending on the situation I want to protect you most of all, I care more about my squad than Soul Society as a whole-"

"I know, but me and Kanna talked about it directly after and well… I guess part of the reason I was so quick to explode at her and think of her as an enemy is because of how we suspect her but I can't help thinking of what we said then. I told her that I wasn't sure I'd be able to fight against my friend, even if it endangered the people I care about and those under me."

She trailed off and Toshiro noticed she was lost in her memories so he squeezed her hand and prompted her to continue. "So?"

"I keep coming back to that conversation. Even if it's to protect you and all the people under us in squad ten am I going to be able to fight my friend and maybe forcefully send her into reincarnation. Destroy what could be left of her afterlife?"

' _You're over-exaggerating the severity of the situation,_ ' Toshiro wanted to say ' _there's no way that'll happen, she's Kanna, of course she's on our side._ '

But he could not say any of that. Could not lie to her so straightforwardly on such an important topic to both of them. Instead, he gave her the far-less-reassuring truth.

"I don't know if it will all turn out okay, so I can't say that to you." Even he had to fight back a cringe at how unsupportive his words sounded. The room -already dark but getting so much darker as the last slips of sun started to disappear- did not do anything to help him in fixing Karin's mood or supporting her.

The hesitation allowed Karin to become slightly uncomfortable and start playing with her clip while she waited. Toshiro took a deep breath and was able to say what he wanted to say.

"I don't know if it will all turn out okay," he repeated, "but I do think we're going to be able to get through this. You're right that this will be… difficult, especially emotionally, but as long as we survive we're going to be able to get back up again and keep fighting."

"I know." Karin's voice was soft and flat, lacking the usual spark she carried with her at all times. Or maybe all times except now. "I know if I get through this it will become easier… but I hate _myself_ for losing it like that. We haven't even confirmed they're traitors but my immediate reaction was to treat her like an enemy."

"And that's a natural response. Listen, both of us are going to be hurt by this it it's true. There's nothing we can do to change that other than deny reality which neither of us wants. We're just going to need to get through this… I suppose this isn't the most motivational speech I've ever given but you get the point. We'll get hurt, yes, but we're going to be fine."

Karin looked up and gave a slow- unnaturally calm and unusually understanding but not as defeated as before- nod.

"Right. I'll be fine." She turned to Toshiro and gave a slightly crooked half-smile half-smirk that was much more like the fiery version of her Toshiro was used to counterbalancing himself.

Toshiro, hesitantly, reached out for her, intending to give her some support. They both leaned in and looked each other in the eyes, then Karin leaned in more and they kissed.

Rather than being out of passion on even desire this one was just because they both know they needed each other. It lasted for several seconds before they separated, both feeling somehow lighter than before.

"I love you," was the last thing Toshiro said before she nodded and left the room.

* * *

Karin felt much better now. After talking to her boyfriend/captain/only true equal/ boss she had gotten over the depressed funk she had been in and felt much more normal. She immediately went to take a shower and change out of the swimsuit, reminding her that she still had to return it to Kanna.

And hey, maybe it would give her a great chance to apologize to her friend too.

The moon was starting to creep overhead and the air was only a little less warm than it had been earlier while she was at the beach, though that may have been more Toshiro's doing than anything else on a day so unusually hot.

Toshiro had pointed her to where Kanna's noble house was, remembering it after helping her bring supplies there that one time. Karin could not feel Kanna's reiatsu in any of the barracks so the next place she would check was here.

"What do you want?" One of the guards immediately asked when she approached. Her first instinct was to yell back something insulting or sarcastic but at the last moment she was able to fight down the urge.

"I was hoping you could tell me if Kanna is there." The two men looked at each other, suspicion clear in their expressions.

One of them looked about to say something Karin did not want so she jumped to explain. "My name is Karin Kurosaki or Karin Shiba. I'm a friend of Kanna's from her squad, the third seat of the tenth division. She let me use a swimsuit earlier today and I wanted to give it back and talk to her about something."

While she spoke she held up the towel and swimsuit she was carrying as a form of proof that- judging from the expressions on the two guards' faces- they accepted.

"She just left to return to the division. Takahiro-sama had something he wanted her to do so she left less than five minutes ago."

Karin was slightly surprised but had to admit it would explain why she did not feel Kanna's reitsu now or at the divisions when she had checked earlier.

"Kay, thanks." She called out, barely managing to keep her manners somewhat suitable for the current company, especially after introducing herself as a Shiba and third seat.

She briefly realized she never would have cared about such a thing before. Toshiro was definitely rubbing off on her.

Not that that was necessarily a bad thing.

Karin briefly reached up to her hair and realized the pin was no longer there. She had taken it out while showering and not put it back on afterwords. It's sudden absence after so much time carrying it around felt slightly weird to her even if she always took it off to go to sleep.

As she got closer to the barracks Karin was able to feel the reiatsu Kanna always kept controlled and broke off into a light jog. Soon she was at the door in front of the room Kanna was in.

Taking a deep breath Karin mentally prepared herself for the conversation, then opened the door. It was slightly hard to see in the dark and it was late enough for the lights to be put on dim or completely out. Despite this Karin could clearly make out her friend in front of her with the above average sight she possessed.

"Kanna, can we talk?"

Kanna looked over her shoulder and Karin saw that she had her shinigami uniform on and was holding a stack of paperwork.

' _Did she come back to do more work_?' Karin wondered, thinking briefly of her other workaholic friend and his constant habits of staying overnight until she showed up.

"...Sure," Kanna answered after a slightly tense silence filled only with the sounds of their breathing and the animals outside. "What do you want to talk about?"

There was so much Karin wanted to ask the girl, mainly about what side of the ensuing rebellion she stood on, but Karin kept those thoughts to herself.

"I'm sorry I blew up on you like that earlier today. I don't really know what happened but I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted to say sorry." She held up the towel and swimsuit towards her friend in a handing over motion. "I also decided to bring these to give them back to you."

Kanna nodded, her expression overtaken by one of regret and sorrow which only increased when she looked up to Karin.

"Thanks. For bringing these back, I mean… I'm sorry too. I've been a little stressed lately and I haven't completely been myself. There's just been a lot I've had to think about and a lot of training from my family that's been hammered into me to rebel against."

Karin watched as Kanna took the towel and swimsuit from her impassively, though some relief at Kanna's words were still visible if you knew where to look.

Another tense silence formed and Karin started to get fidgety, only increased by the fact that she had never felt this way around Kanna before. Was it just her or was the night's warm air making to room seem extremely stuffy.

"I just…" Kanna started again and drew Karin's attention, thankfully breaking some of the silence. "I just want you both- you and captain- to know something." Karin pursed her lips slightly, worried about what could be causing _Kanna_ to stutter over everything she was trying to say.

"Yes?"

"I want you to know that no matter what happens, or what changes, or what my original goals were, the time I spent with you two was as far as I can remember the best time in my life."

Karin grew further concerned at seeing her sometimes fakely polite and other times teasing friend be so upfront and genuine in her emotions.

"Kanna?"

"I had a lot of fun with you two and I want you to know no matter what that the emotions I showed you, the happiness I had with you, all of that was genuine."

Karin smiled a fake smile in an attempt to lighten her mood. "Hey now, are you okay. 'Cause as you're talking I can't help but sense a 'but'."

Kanna looked up at Karin and they made eye contact, their breathing once again filling the silence. Karin swallowed and waited not-so-patiently-and-more-worried for Kanna to continue.

"I suppose there is a bit of a 'but' there. First though, do you know why our conversation was so easily blown up into an argument?"

"I guess because we were talking about politics and both of us have a personal investment in that. Do you have another theory on why?"

"Yes. I think part of it comes from the fact that we both disagree on how much it's getting fixed: I think the change isn't happening fast enough while you're fine with the speed it's going at."

"I wouldn't say I'm 'fine' with it, it's something I'd be happy to have go a little faster…"

"But you're not actively working to change it and the fact that it's not going fast enough isn't on your mind at all parts of the day."

"Right…"

"Well, there's also the fact that you were angry because you thought someone would end up hurting your friends if there was a rebellion because we're all shinigami."

"I'm pretty sure that's a face, not an assumption."

"You're right. So here's the thing, I don't really care about them in the same way I care about you and captain. I wouldn't really mind if they died."

Karin froze, the shock overpowering any thoughts she had. Her goal had been to apologize to Kanna and restart their friendship but the subject had completely derailed from what she thought it was going to be.

"And then some of the lower members were idiots and decided to let themselves get caught, pretty much spilling everything we've been working on for the past few years."

"I'm sorry, _what_?"

Kanna looked over and made eye contact with Karin. The two continued to stare at each other and then, for what Karin thought might have been the first time she's ever seen, she got to see Kanna drop all of her masks.

"Tell Toshiro I'm sorry, 'kay Karin? And I'll just tell you once again. Sorry." This was the sort of thing Karin expected to get when she went to apologise to Kanna about what had happened, but for some reason she had the feeling it was about something completely different.

"I… I forgive you, I guess. I'll be going now, later." She started heading to the door, but once she reached it she found it would not open.

"Thanks for giving them the time to do that." Kanna told her, drawing her attention once again. While she did not specify what 'that' was Karin had a suspicion that she sincerely hoped was wrong. Turning, Karin looked Kanna in the eyes and waited for her to speak.

"See, I care about you and Toshiro more than anyone else in Soul Society and my brother does to. So I was able to get him to let me do what I want personally, that way I can at least make sure you're spared certain things."

"Kanna, if you don't mind I'd appreciate an actual explanation." Karin's words were the result of her using one of her normal, slightly aggressive masks but even that could not quite cover up the shake in her words. Karin turned back toward the division door, messing around with it in the hopes of getting it open.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you more than this, I'm so sorry."

* * *

After Toshiro had talked to Karin and cheered her up he was called to an emergency captain's meeting. The meeting seemed to have surprised almost all the captains with the exception of the Soutaicho, who called the meeting, and Urahara, who was standing in the back of the room looking unnaturally serious for him.

Kenpachi, ever the impatient, first broke the silence. "So, we gonna talk or are we just sitting around here for no reason?"

After that the Soutaicho seemed to have snapped out of whatever he had been thinking about and looked ready to start, though for a brief second Toshiro could have sworn he saw Kyoraku glance over at him.

"Several members in the second division were able to capture some souls suspected of working for the group rebelling against us." He paused for a moment and allowed that to settle in, then continued. "I believe Urahara will be able to tell you more about what was discovered as Yoruichi was asked to come help with the interrogation."

Urahara nodded and stepped forward, his hat shading his eyes completely. "Well my dear captains~" he began, the utterly fake smile shining through his expression. "Thanks to my darling Yoruichi the rebels have been interrogated and we have learned some very interesting facts. The first of which is that they have been using several tools from the twelfth division to try and locate the king's key instead of sacrificing souls for it."

"Where could they have gotten tools from my division?" Mayuri interrupted, looking a few seconds away from running back to his division and upgrading all the security.

"We already know they have several spies in the Gotei Thirteen and are looking through the reports on suspicious members you have given us so it's not too surprising that they were able to get something from the twelfth."

"What then?" Rukia asked, "Have the people you found given you any other information about them or do they not know anything about the members?"  
"Well, luckily we were able to confirm it will take them a while, most likely a few months, to crack open the key so we have time to prepare. We were actually also able to confirm one set of people who were suspected." This time Urahara was the one to look over at Toshiro, a rare expression of regret in his eyes.

A feeling of understanding and dread pooled in Toshiro's mind and he silently prayed to the soul king for his genius mind to have been wrong.

The talk outside the meeting room seemed to have quieted as a result of the late time, allowing Urahara's words to easily pierce through the room. When he opened his mouth to speak Toshiro found he was clenching his fists in anticipation while the pitch-black sky allowed the fait lack of control in his reiatsu to glow.

"I'm sorry to say that we have confirmed Kanna, the forth seat of squad ten and her brother, Takahiro, are highly ranked members of their cause."

Instantly, the temperature of the room dropped several dozen degrees, causing everyone to shiver. Ice began to form in a circle around Toshiro, the white snow formed was practically glowing in the same way Toshiro was.

Though in all honesty, no one could blame him for his reaction. Even Kenpachi trusted some of the members in his squad more than anything.

However, the freeze only lasted for a handful of seconds before disappearing, allowing the room to return to it's normal temperature.

"Knew it," was all he said, his fists still clenching in hate, anger and a strong feeling of… betrayal. The air around him was coated with his impressive spiritual energy, causing his eyes to glow. And, regardless of how much he wanted to leave right now and confront the siblings about it, he was still coherent enough to know the best strategy was to not let them know what information they had and catch them.

"...When will I have permission to tell the other people in my squad?" Everyone in the room had at least a general idea that he was referring to Karin when he said that, and his lack of storming off to confront them made everyone relax.

"Soon, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to at least wait until they are made aware we know or openly attempt something to tell anyone. We can't risk it." Kyoraku ordered with a slight frown, knowing how close they had gotten in the short time they knew each other.

Toshiro nodded in understanding and stepped back, allowing the meeting of strategy planning to continue. No one commented on how he was not helping even close to the amount he usually did in this kind of meeting.

Several different ideas were brought up in the meeting. They could simply ambush the suspects and torture them into confessing-Soi fon- they could immediately run up to them and demand a match to test their strength-Kenpachi, though he phrased it a little differently-or some suggested they simply be given to the twelfth for experimentation-you can probably guess.

The idea that was eventually decided on for the time being was to locate them and have Toshiro convince them to come to a meeting on the grounds of them being possible witnesses to another (fictional) case. Then they would be surrounded and interrogated, but torture would only be resorted to if the suspects refused to cooperate.

"We might have to wake them up," Ichigo mentioned, there because after being the central commander and leader against several hundred small rebellions and wars over the years he was pretty much an honorary member of Soul Society. "Should we wait until morning?"

"I can help wake them up if they're too sleepy," Orihime suggested.

"Well we're not starting it now," Kyoraku reminded them, "especially since we will need a little while to set everything up. Though we should probably stick to doing it at night so other people won't interfere and they'll have more trouble resisting than they normally would."

"When can we expect preparations to be done?" Toshiro asked while everyone except Mayuri- who started arguing with him about it- ignored Kenpachi's gripes about planning anything rather than just sending him to take care of it.

Kyoraku glanced over at Urahara and the captain's shared a quick, silent conversation; possible though years of working together. Finally, he looked away and began to address the entire group again with an answer to Toshiro's question.

"I would assume we would need at least a week to be sure but as the plan is fairly simple I can't see this project going much longer than that."

Several captains nodded and Ichigo was looking like he missed the days when he could just break into Soul Society and beat people up until the problem was solved. While nowhere near Kenpachi's level he also prefered that method.

' _At least he's willing to cooperate with us in other methods_ ,' Toshiro thought. Suddenly, Ichigo's gaze switched over to looking at Toshiro, who took a slightly defencive stance at the unexpected attention from him.

A second later Toshiro realized why he was being stared at when he focused on the mix of understanding and regret in Ichigo's eyes.

' _That's right'_ , Toshiro realized, ' _he had to deal with Ishida being declared a traitor during the Quincy war even if he was actually on our side and Soul Society declaring Orihime a traitor when she went with Aizen's hollows. He knows exactly how I'm feeling_.'

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Orihime making a beckoning motion to get him to come over, snapping him out of his thoughts. After marginally hesitating he complied and joined up with her and her husband.

The meeting continued for another few minutes without getting anything actually done- it was mostly filled with Mayuri and Kenpachi's argument which, somehow, still had not stopped- so Kyoraku -soutaicho eventually decided just to end it.

Most captains left immediately to return to whatever projects they were working on before or to relax. It was late enough that without the call for the emergency meeting the Captains were mostly off-duty for the time being.

Toshiro, however, stayed behind for another second, wondering why Orihime had called him over. Before he had a chance to ask, though, she was smothering him in an overly-affectionate hug which reminded him of Matsumoto's.

"Sorry about Hime, Toshiro." Ichigo apologized and then tried to ignore the obvious pout his wife was giving him, "We just want you to know that since we understand if you or Karin feel like this is too much for you we don't mind listening."

The sentiment was completely genuine and Toshiro could not help but give a slight smile.

"Thank's, I'll make sure to let her know as soon as the week's over and the plan is finished. Do either of you want me to tell her anything?"

"No, thanks. We can just pop by ourselves and call her if we really want to talk to her about something."

Toshiro nodded in understanding and stepped back looking around the room. Ichigo, Orihime and the Captain Commander were the only people still present in the room. Kyoraku was looking through the plan one last time while Orihime was telling Ichigo about a new type of food she wanted to try making when they got back.

Toshiro then sent his awareness out to see if there was anything he could remember he needed to do before shutting down for the night. He blinked and opened his eyes.

Kanna and Karin were together in the division even though there was no one else present at the current time. A nervous feeling welled up in his chest.

"Sir," he got the Captain Commander's attention solely through the desperation obvious in his voice, "Karin Kurosaki and Kanna, the suspect are both in the tenth division barracks right now. I know why Karin's there but do you have any idea why Kanna might not have gone home?"

"No, I don't believe I do. Are you concerned?"

Toshiro's brilliant, teal eyes scanned the room, slightly uncomfortable in the complete silence and hyper-aware for threats.

"I… I feel like maybe I should go and make sure Kanna isn't messing with files or anything. Can you send a team inside if I don't report back in twenty minutes?"

"Are you sure that level of caution is really necessary?" Ichigo asked, the concern clear in his voice- almost definitely due to Karin's possible involvement.

"Can't hurt to be sure," Toshiro answered before disappearing in a flash. Less than a minute later (3) he was in the middle of the city in front of the barracks. He could feel Karin and Kanna's reiatsu together in one of the rooms and went to investigate.

Throwing open the door between him and the girls Toshiro completely stopped dead.

Karin was facing him, her back to Kanna, the later girl's zanpakuto sticking straight through her chest. Blood dripped down the sword to the hands of Kanna, who then lowered her zanpakuto and allowed Karin to slide off.

She flicked the sword, forcing the blood off it.

"Karin?"

* * *

Karin stirred, blinking her eyes open then instantly snapping them shut from the bright light outside. For a reason she did not know she could not remember anything that had just happened. She vaguely recalled being in the barracks for something…

' _Oh_ ,' she remembered, ' _I was looking for Kanna!'_

And then…

In a flash the dark-scary-are-you-okay-Kanna-you're-acting-weird-dark-turn-around- scary- flash- blood- pain- it- hurts- why- Kanna- hurts- Toshiro?- help came back to her. The pain in her wound which she somehow had not noticed before came back full force and she found she could not breathe anymore.

"Third seat Kurosaki! It's fine, just calm down and breathe!" Karin thought she remembered hearing that voice from a member of the Fourth Division but was not sure. Slowly, a special kido the fourth division used was able to calm her down and make her breathe.

Once she was taking calm but necessary breaths she felt her mind start up again and turned to the healer. The healer girl noticed her movement and also looked up, allowing them to make eye contact with each other.

"What happened?"

"...I believe that is a question best discussed later, when you are more calm and composed. Don't worry, I'll give you something to do until then."

The girl began to leave until Karin grabbed her wrist. Even in her exhausted and injured state her fighting power and strength was still far above that of a normal healer.

Once the girl realized she would not be able to escape the strong grip Karin had on her she tried to appease with a small amount of information.

"After you were injured you were found by the Captain of Squad Ten. He was able to save your life but at the cost of the perpetrator escaping, even captain's can't deal with someone who knows shunpo making a run for it while simultaneously using healing kido to save someone's life. After that he brought you back, reported on the situation, and got you to the fourth. Also luckily, Orihime Kurosaki was able to be on the scene almost immediately and she healed most of your wound."

"Most?"

"Because it was done in such point blank range with a zanpakuto and by a kido specialist the wound has certain patches Miss Kurosaki wasn't able to heal over using her powers. The reiatsu the aggressor placed there pushed away any help she tried to give. You'll need to short time off duty but you'll heal up just fine and naturally given time."

Normally, Karin would have completely focused on the part where she said Kairin would need to take a 'short time off duty'. Normally she would have cared for nothing except the fact that she would not be allowed to keep helping or what sort of training she could do to make sure it never happened again. Normally she would feel fine despite the physically wounds.

This was not normal.

As the healer tried to leave again Karin tightened her grip on the girl's wrist. By this point the healer was actually starting to look a bit annoyed with Karin but Karin ignored that completely. She needed one more answer.

"...And Kanna?" She asked, ignoring the way she could not stop her voice from cracking slightly. "She- I… what happened to her?"

The healer, to Karin's fear, only sent her a look of pity now, the previous annoyance nowhere to be seen. Karin tightened her grip again, making it clear she would not let the healer girl leave without getting an answer to her question.

"...Former fourth seat Kanna has been declared a traitor and an enemy of the Gotei Thirteen by the Captains and Central Forty-Six. There is now an order to apprehend on sight, forcefully if necessary, for Kanna and her brother, Takahiro, the later of who has been found using twelfth division tools for illegal activity."

Karin's grip completely slacked and the healer took that as an opportunity to run away, leaving Karin behind. Forcing herself to continue breathing, Karin took in the severity of the situation she was now at the center of.

Her coworkers, colleges and other friends were now going to follow the orders to _forcefully apprehend_ Kanna on sight. They were going to fight each other with the actual intent to injure or kill. _Kanna_ had tried to and succeeded in stabbing her through the chest.

Now what?

Karin heard the door creak open and looked up to see Toshiro standing in front of her, coming in through the door.

"Hey," was all she said, her unusually quiet voice barely within Toshiro's hearing range.

"Hey," he said back, "They told me you had woken up."

"...How long have I been out?"

"A few hours, not yet a day. It's early the next morning. Orihime is able to work miracles." Karin did not even consider teasingly correcting Toshiro for not calling her 'Orihime-nee'.

Forcing a cheerful, light hearted and teasing mask on Karin looked up. "So nice of you to come check on your girlfriend in the hospital. Did you bring roses? You always told me how good I look in the color red."  
He hesitated for a second then explained, "...I don't like how the color red looks on you anymore."

The statement was seemingly completely random, but when Karin looked up and met the despair in his eyes she realized what he was thinking of.

Toshiro bit his lip and tried to keep the image out of his mind. The image of Karin-bleeding- bloody- hurt- dead?- no- please- no- all-you-wanted-was-to-save-her-and-you-failed- bleeding- dark- red- clothes- red- hair- please -be -okay-Karin had not left his mind since he saw her last night.

A silence more awkward than anytime together they had shared in quite a while passed through the room. For the sake of conversation, and without any real goal in mind, Karin found herself talking.

"So, I heard there's been an arrest order sent out for Kanna and Takahiro… did all the captains have something to do with that?" Karin grimised slightly as she found she could not quite keep the accusation out of the question.

Either not hearing it or choosing to ignore it Toshiro answered back with just as much anger. "No. They decided I was too emotionally attached and took my vote out of the decision. I would have been able to do my job just fine."

"Sure, but not happily." Karin pointed out, feeling a bit more like her normal self. Then everything came crashing back.

"Karin?" Toshiro asked worriedly, wondering why Karin had suddenly folded in on herself and started shaking.

"They actually… I mean I know we _investigated them_ for it but I didn't think they'd actually- there's no way. They wouldn't betray us… there must have been a mistake, I mean we looked into them because we thought… but I didn't actually think they-"

"Karin, just calm down-" There it was again. _Calm down_. As if she was the one being unreasonable right now. Kanna and Takahiro, two of the only people she had put trust in were traitors and gone and nothing that was going to be fixed by just _calming down_.

"No, no, no, no…" Karin trailed off, bring her hands to her head and gripping at her hair. She squeezed and pulled her hair, hoping the pain would bring her back to reality because there's-no-way-this-could- actually- be- the- truth- or- real- it- was- just- a dream-

Toshiro, for once, looked completely at a loss. This could not be Karin. _His_ Karin was always a spit-fire and full of energy and _alive_. He did not know how to deal with this Karin.

"No, no, no, no, no…"

Uncertainty, awkwardly, Toshiro stepped forward and grabbed at her shoulders, wincing as Karin's arms continued to pull at her hair, then pulled her into a hug.

Karin's eyes, frantic, desperate, unfocused, continued blinking even as she was swayed slightly by Toshiro, not acknowledging his presence.

Several minutes of a tense silence passed, Toshiro continuing to sway Karin as he hugged her. Soon, Karin calmed down, allowing herself to breathe normally again.

"Sorry." The word Karin spoke was so soft that Toshiro almost could not hear it despite being right next to her but he payed that no mind.

"You're no thinking completely rationally," he said, "the healers had to use kido to calm your mind down while you slept and this is probably the backlash. They said this might happen, and they trusted that since I'm a captain I'd be able to take care of it."

"Despite the fact that you have no medical training whatsoever." Karin teased, a small but genuine smile on her lips as she finally let her arms fall from her head to her lap.

"Yeah, despite that." Toshiro let go of Karin and stood in front of her. Karin's skin was unnaturally pale from the blood loss which occured from the unhealed cuts and even Orihime can not do anything for mental scars.

Toshiro looked at Karin, a strong surge of regret crashing down on him. If he had just been able to realize where their loyalties lay earlier then this would not happened. The accomplishment of finding their identities and loyalties was completely outweighed by this.

"Don't blame yourself." Karin mumbled, but in the silence of the room in rank loud and clear. Toshiro stared down at her while she looked up at him. "It was my decision, I don't want you to think this was your fault. We both trusted them. I chose to trust her. Don't feel guilty."

"...I won't." Toshiro lied, hoping Karin would feel better if he said that. "Are you okay?"

There was a silence which made Toshiro unusually uncomfortable as Karin stared down at the ground again.

"Karin?" He tried again, "Are you okay?"

"Did Orihime go home already?"

"Uh, yeah." He stood up to leave, "If you're not feeling well I can get a healer for you-"

This time Karin grabbed his sleeve, shaking slightly while she did.

"Please stay. At least for a little while."

"...Okay."

* * *

1) I'm stealing a bit of this conflict from Code Geass but that actually wasn't intentional. It just seems to be the expected conclusion resulting from the way these two characters' ideals and goals match up in my story. Besides, this time I'm doing it mostly from the opposite point of view (the government fixers are in the right, or at least the main characters, here) so I don't think this will be too much of a problem. I tried to touch on some points they didn't but I don't actually remember much about Code Geass so I can't be sure.

2) Okay, so I'm actually not completely sure how much time I want to have passed. I figure for them to have gotten this close to her a couple of months is a good number- it works differently for souls anyways. I originally thought it was less than a month but I figure enough has happened for it to be more time passing. Not like they're in school and anything changes from year-to-year anyways. So I'd say they've known Kanna for about half a year and gotten really close during that time. (Then again, Ichigo had only known Rukia for like a month before starting an _invasion_ of a powerful government with a group of teenagers and a cat so maybe getting attached quickly to people just runs in the family.)

3)So I'm gonna be honest with all of you and say that I have absolutely no idea how big the seireitei is. I mean, it's mostly inhabited by shinigami who can use shunpo, which we know is faster than cars, so it makes sense for it to be pretty big. The citizens who would need to move from place to place can probably, at slowest, finish a mile in two minutes. These are only going to be the very slowest though, everyone else will be a lot faster, and Toshiro's a captain so he'll be faster than even them. I'd say it would make sense for them to have a really big city and always use shunpo to get everywhere they need to.

4)Actually, what happens in this chapter is where my inspiration for this story comes from. I originally had just these last few scenes and wanted to write it so I designed a story around them and I'm actually pretty happy with how that turned out. I think this was a success and it's been really fun but don't worry, I still have more I can write so I'll continue this story. It's not over yet!

5)I decided to make a super long chapter! I had a lot planned for this chapter and there just kept being more and more words so eventually I just decided to make it as long as I wanted to and yeah, now it's my longest chapter yet! Hope no one minds! This is probably my favorite chapter so far, it's been lots of fun to write! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. It just kept getting longer and longer, though I probably should have seen that coming.

6) Thank you for reading! Please leave a review!


	22. Chapter 22

"What now?" Karin asked softly, turning as Toshiro came in. She could not help but feel slightly lonely, even in the bright hospital room, at the fact that he came in alone.

Toshiro also looked up at her, allowing her to see how tired his eyes were. Giving a slight scowl, Karin shook her head and tried to temporarily snap herself out of her depression.

"We'll be getting a paid vacation for a little while."

"As if either of us cares about money to begin with," Karin mumbled, not noticing how Toshiro smiled at seeing a bit more of the girl he knew back. When she looked up again he continued with his explanation.

"It was decided that because of our personal attachment and your injuries we would be forced to leave. Normally you would just be confined to bed rest by the fourth division but after… Momo it was decided that anyone who has a strong emotional bond to the main rebelling force against Soul Society would be required to take a leave of absence for a short while."

Leaning back, Karin thought his words over and considered them, happy she could now move around without making her injuries worse.

"Did they just come up with this rule?"

"They've done something similar for a while but we're the first really high ranking members to experience this so they only just made it an official rule. Besides, while Kira and Hisagi _were_ able to continue their work they would have performed at a higher quality if they had been allowed a break. So, if we can, we'll try to let people take a break."

"I see." Karin looked out her window and felt the breeze drift by her in a calm, soothing wave. "When will we leave? The kido made Orihime unable to heal me but I don't want to wait until I'm completely healed to go."

"Actually, they said I know enough healing kido to make up for the absence of a fourth division member. We'll be leaving in two days for the human world…"

The trail off at the end caught Karin's attention and concern. She shifted in her seat to get a better look at her boyfriend (/captain/boss/friend) and saw that he had a scowl on his face- not unusual- as well as an angry tint to his reiatsu- highly unusual.

"Seriously, Shiro? What's wrong?" Toshiro blinked once, slightly startled by Karin's question. He ran a tired hand through his hair.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm just annoyed that I have to leave while there's still work to do and while the investigation is still going on."

"Sit."

"I'm sorry?" Toshiro stared in confusion and at a slight loss of words at the girl in front of him. At least, until she started to glare and he decided it would be in his best interests to follow her instructions.

Slowly, calmly, he sat down like she told him to and looked up at her, his features containing their usual lack of emotion with the exception of the flashes of concern and confusion Karin could see in his eyes.

Karin fully turned over to Toshiro, making sure she had his full attention. "It's fine. We'll just get back to normal as fast as we can and then we'll be allowed to join the investigation again. Besides, if anyone should work harder to find them it'd be me-"

"You're pressuring yourself too hard." Toshiro immediately interrupted, his 'captain's voice' cutting off all room for disagreement. "We don't know the full story yet, we shouldn't draw any conclusions until we do. It wasn't your fault and we don't know enough to actually know what's happened. Don't blame anyone."

In an unusual state of shock, Karin paused for a second to digest his words before relaxing slightly and turning to him, "...Is that something a captain should really be saying about an enemy of the Gotei Thirteen?"

"Ever since your brother got here that line's become fainter and fainter so I highly doubt anyone will mind. Though there's something you should know, they apparently want us to go on our vacation for at least a month."

"I'm sorry, _what_! Are they crazy? Why are they making this 'vacation' last so long! I mean, I know it's less time for us now that we're souls but there's so much that could happen during this time which we could help with!"

"I know." Combing yet another frustrated hand through his hair Toshiro scowled and looked- or, death glared- at the ground. "I don't really get it either but apparently, and according to the Captain Commander, they need us to be working at our highest capacity. Matsumoto will be taking over while we're gone with some help from a few other Captains, but at the beginning there won't be much for us to do. It's supposed to just be the second division going around and making sure there are no other traitors."

"And because we were so obviously attacked we're off their suspicion list?"

"Essentially."

A minute passed in silence. Karin spent the time thinking through and processing everything she had just been told while Toshiro spent the time watching over Karin and seeing how bad her injuries seemed to be.

Finally, Karin decided she had spent too much time with Toshiro recently that was all work and could see the exhaustion in her boyfriend's eyes because of it. It seemed that without her around he had no idea how to relax.

"You know, if you keep sitting like that people are going to start thinking you're an old man."

"Excuse m-"  
"Especially with your white hair. That doesn't help."

Toshiro brought a self-conscious hand to his hair and completely looked up.

"What are you-"

"If though I guess, if anything, you should feel glad. You've always wanted people to stop thinking of you as a kid right? To bad you've completely skipped the adult phase of your life."

Her last comment was finally able to get through to him and the temperature dropped a few degrees. Meanwhile, Toshiro glared while also looking to be at a slight loss for words. He finally gave a sigh, allowing the temperature to return to normal as he responded.

"Where is all this coming from? Did you somehow build it up while you were asleep?"

"'Course not, I built it up while you were sitting here and trying to make everything more serious than it needed to be. I thought we went over this: re-la-x." Sounding the last word out, Karin attempted to make her voice as patronizing as possible.

Judging by Toshiro's glare she was pretty sure she succeeded.

"You know, I think I might have liked you better when you were still asleep." She noticed he had made a point of saying 'asleep' rather than 'unconscious' or 'in a coma' but said nothing of it.

"If I was still asleep then who would you get to spend your time talking to? Matsumoto's too busy with her drinks and work, my brother isn't around right now, Momo has a bunch of work to do for the fifth division and I'm pretty sure you've got no other friends."

Toshiro was about to respond but cut himself off at the last second, not wanting to bring up Takahiro or Kanna.

"Well, I have a lot of work and not all that much time for frien-"

"That is quite possibly the weakest excuse I've ever heard." Karin smirked as she leaned back into her bed, absentmindedly noticing how tangled her hair had gotten.

"It definitely was more relaxing around here when you were still asleep."

"I don't know, you seemed kind of rigid earlier but now you're much more relaxed. Maybe you shouldn't work so much."

"If I didn't then the work would never get done! Who else do you think can be trusted to do this, even the other captains are a bit distracted right now."

"Excuses, excuses." Karin teased back. While every word they spoke was slightly forced they were slowly transitioning back to their normal life. It would be fine.

* * *

"Hiiiii Karin~!" Said girl blinked her tired eyes open as Matsumoto- really, the only person who would dare say her name like that- flung open the door and sauntered into the room. While Karin was glad to see she was okay, the large bags in her hands were admittedly slightly worrying.

"Rangiku… what's in the bag?" Deciding to play it safe for now, Karin asked her question while simultaneously looking for a way out if worse came to worst.

Not seeing the apprehension in Karin's words- or just choosing to ignore it, who knows- Matsumoto set the bag down on a nearby table and pulled out exactly what Karin had been fearing:

Makeup. Lots and lots of hair accessories, brushes, makeup, etc.

Feeling that the worst possible situation had come Karin immediately sat up and attempted to shunpo out of the room. However, and to her great dismay, Matsumoto both saw what she was doing and knew the healers did not want her to move around for now.

"Hey, be careful!" A not-so-gentle shove pushed Karin back down onto the bed. She personally would describe the experience as akin to being trapped by a spider-like hollow with no possible escape. And no, Matsumoto's cheerful humming did not make her feel any better.

"Is this really necessary?" Karin tentatively asked as her Lieutenant pulled out various random things before stopping on a brush.

"Obviously how else are you going to attract the right kind of attention from taicho? Besides, we're unfortunately not in a movie so you staying in the hospital will just make your hair worse and worse- not the beautiful type for unconscious princesses."

"Of course, because it's not at all like I want to be a shinigami warrior. It makes perfect logical sense to base my actions on that of fictional princesses. Clearly, all that matters is looking pretty regardless of the situation, silly me."

"I'm glad you understand!" Matsumoto exclaimed with a joyous bounce to her step, completely ignoring all of Karin's sarcasm in the commentary.

"Wait, but-"

"And besides, you're quite literally confined to this hospital bed if you want to get your paid vacation with taicho. You don't really have a choice in the matter if I want to dress you up… Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for a chance to say that?"

"Surely I can just leave…"

"Nope! Taicho's coming and you have to look perfect for when he does! Besides, I've already picked out clothes for you during all the different holidays we'll be over in the world of the living. Don't worry about it, it'll be great!"

"But-"

"Think about it this way. If taicho and all the others see you wearing everything I've assigned and with your hair clean they'll be more likely to think you're all healed. There's not much left to actually heal, you're just here to gain back more energy to fix some parts yourself. Looking great will help you with that, promise."

"Okay, so all that matters is looking pretty regardless of the situation." Karin repeated, though with noticeably less sarcasm this time. It was moments like this when Karin was fully able to understand what made her usually-drunk friend such a great lieutenant.

"Precisely!"

Matsumoto then set to work, pulling out hair detangler and water and conditioner and a hairbrush to battle the monster that had originally been Karin's hair. It had been a long time since Karin had been so relaxed with someone else like this. And when she was it had always been Toshiro… or Kanna and Takahiro.

 _Deep breath. Forget about it._ She told herself, trying desperately to follow her own advice. _Get Rangiku to talk about something. Focus on that._

"So, do you think you're going to be able to handle the squad all by yourself?"

"Sure!" Matsumoto brightened, obviously happy at Karin's willingness to talk with her. "I was able to rope Kira and Hisagi into helping me-"

"Was or will?" Karin interrupted, genuinely curious.

"...Will. It doesn't really matter. So anyways, I _wil_ l be able to rope Kira and Hisagi into helping me after you and taicho leave for the world of the living and I'm sure some of the other captains will be ordered to help me. It's all gonna work out and besides, I've been a lieutenant longer than taicho was a shinigami."

Karin nodded and thought over that information for a while, glad to have something to distract herself with. Honestly, the warm air that was constantly in her hospital room was starting to feel a bit stifling to her.

"Where do you think me and Shiro should go?" Karin prompted, seemingly out of nowhere. "I'm not sure either of us would be too happy with the beach. It's bright and hot and the air is dry and- well, those things. Shiro probably wouldn't approve." She cut herself off at the last second from adding 'and it's one of the last places I went with Kanna'.

The tenth division's lieutenant made a humming noise of consideration and brought a hand to her face in a 'thinking pose' she had picked up from a show in the world of the living.

"Oh, I know!" The excitement and joy in her expression made Karin slightly suspicious and nervous so she cast over a speculative glance and prepared to run.

"Does it have anything to do with shopping?" Matsumoto shook her head. "I'm not sure you'd be an expert on the living world for much else… should I really trust you with this?"

"Of course you can. Don't worry, I'll bring it up with taicho too and he can check over anything you get worried about. So, as for the idea…"

Matsumoto paused for dramatic effect but then shrank back when Karin simply raised an eyebrow at her in annoyance.

"The idea?"

"Right, the idea is that you and taicho go to the mountains in the world of the living. Someplace you can ski or snowboard. I know taicho's really good at the latter and he can teach you anything you don't know if you have trouble."

"But I've never gone snowboarding before, just skiing."

"Doesn't matter, if you want to ski you can, and if you want to try snowboarding taicho can teach you! It'll all work out!"

Karin had to admit she was pretty excited about that idea and it did not seem like it had too many bad points to it.

"Is there a good place for this time of year?"

"I'm sure we can find one! Just wait here, I'll be right back."

Before Karin could point out that she was not allowed to leave in the first place Matsumoto was gone, having seemingly disappeared as the result of a well-executed shunpo. She appeared back a moment later with a computer designed for the twelfth to use in her hands.

"I bribed and manipulated one of the members of the twelfth division into giving this to me a while ago, so we can use it to find somewhere!"

"Does Shiro know how you got it?"

"...Not _how_ I got it but he does know I have it and I think he suspects what I did."

Not bothering to hold back her sigh Karin just nodded and let Matsumoto try to find the place with the best slopes in the world. Traveling across large distances in the world was essentially cost-free when the senkaimon was used.

"I've got it!" Matsumoto suddenly declared after a good ten minutes of looking intently at her phone while Karin boredly gazed out her window. Being stuck in this bed for so long with her only interaction being people who came to visit her was making her restless, even if she had never been a very social person before.

Flinching back when the overly-excited woman practically shoved the phone into her face Karin saw the place said woman had discovered.

Welcome to St. Anton am Arlberg (1)

A unique paradise for recreation that the whole family can enjoy

A town of 2470 which maintains a genuine charming and cozy atmosphere all year long. The elevation at 1300 is guaranteed to help you relax when accounting for the crisp, clean mountain air. Join your friends to experience the Tirolean hospitality for some time off work. If the slopes are not your taste then come to our extensive shopping district during your free time instead…

The essay went on and on about the place and all of its wonders and Karin had to admit she was becoming more and more captured by the idea. It did seem like the perfect place to relax and take her mind off things given the isolated nature of the place, no outside influences to bother her. Besides, Toshiro was also bound to love it if the air was able to cool him down like that.

"That actually sounds great," Karin admitted, grabbing the computer from her Lieutenant to get a closer look. Pictures of a small town surrounded by snow on all sides popped up and Karin noticed how the lights from the town made appear to glow in the darkness.

"It's in season right now?"

"It should be. And you don't need to worry about a language barrier anyways. They don't speak Japanese but Taicho probably knows every language that's ever been spoken by humans in the years he's been alive. From what I remember you also pick up languages pretty quickly."

Karin nodded to confirm Matsumto's statement but kept her attention glued to the screen in front of her, the prospects of the trip making her even more anxious to leave the bed.

* * *

"Welcome back." Karin greeted as Toshiro entered the room. Oddly enough, he was looking around cautiously for… something.

"What's wrong?"

Toshiro blinked, seemingly having been flung back to the present, and looked up at Karin, the same anticipating look in his eyes.

"...Matsumoto said you and her had something to talk to me about. She's not here now- said you could handle it and no doubt went off to get something to drink- and then told me it was a huge surprise you two planned."

 _Trust Rangiku to be able to make Shiro paranoid even when she's not here,_ Karin thought and cracked open a smile.

"You know, you're awfully easy to manipulate when it's something like this," Karin mocked as she sat up, "Well, for the sake of dramatics maybe I'd rather keep you in the dark about what our surprise is; you know, to liven things up around here a bit."

"Karin." To her slight surprise, Toshiro's voice sounded more worried-but-also-used-to-these-sorts-of- things than angry. "How many people are in on this?"

"Whining won't change my mind about telling you. Try again."

Here Toshiro could not help rolling his eyes at the presented childishness of his girlfriend. Then again, he knew she must be drowning in boredom being confined to the bed for so long.

"I can't believe we're doing this," he said with a slight shake of his head. "How did Matsumoto even get you to agree to this in the first place?"

"That's also a secret."

"You know, she really shouldn't be doing these sorts of things with you while you're still in the hospital and confined to bed rest. You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"As nice as it is to know you care so much about me that's really not going to change what I tell you."

"But-"

"Try again."

This time Toshiro sighed and brought a hand to his face to massage his temples. The reaction left Karin feeling slightly like giggling, especially when she noticed she could see two teal eyes glaring at her from behind his hand.

"How about this then?" he began as he pulled out a bag he bag brought with him. "I brought you something and I'll give it to you if you tell me what you two are planning."

"What is it?"

"That's a secret," he declared, throwing her own words back at her. The bag was small and silver, but ice blue ribbons decorated the top.

Karin was suddenly overcome with a wave of overwhelming curiosity.

"I would be willing to make a deal with you though… if you want your present." Toshiro offered, easily switching over to politics.

"What would you want in exchange?"

"We both tell eachother what we want. You explain the surprise, I show you your present."

"If it's _my_ present doesn't it technically already belong to me?" Karin asked, her eyes still glued on the silver bag. Toshiro had never gotten her a surprise present before; they had always gone shopping together instead. Exploring shops like when they found the pin was the usual present-buying strategy, even before they became a couple.

"It might belong to you, but then we could also argue that as your captain I should already know or be able to order you to tell me what your surprise is."

Realizing this was going to be an uphill battle Karin gave up on her game and caved.

"Alright, fine." She pulled out the computer their Lieutenant had left and pulled up the link she was looking for. "We found a place to stay during the vacation we're taking. This place has slopes for us and you can teach me how to snowboard here."

Toshiro picked up the screen from her lap to get a closer look, but Karin could still see the page the screen was on from the angle he held it. He was going over the information about lodging, food, slope access, shows and cost, flicking through the different links so fast that Karin was not able to finish reading the first page before he moved to the next.

"So? What do you think?" She finally asked, a touch of annoyance in her tone from his lack of response.

"Karin, this is… it's perfect." Looking up, Karin saw that Toshiro was actually smiling at the screen and she could see excitement in his usually blank eyes.

"Obviously, I know what to look for when it comes to something like this."

"Thank you." Toshiro then startled her by giving her a quick kiss. He was never one for showing physical affection so she was not exactly expecting it.

"So, is that enough information to get my prize?" Karin glanced down at the small bag again, considering what could be inside. "You better not have gotten me jewelry, that one clip is more than enough."

"Of course not, I know you better than to try that." He held out the bag and Karin, deciding that he was right and he knew her well enough to only get her something she would actually like, excitedly took the bag from him.

When she opened it she could not help but feel a slight spark of disappointment when she saw the… thing.

"What is this?"

Toshiro smirked at her expression and picked up the thing- Karin decided she was just going to call it 'thing' until she figured out what it was-, fiddling with it slightly and then sending his brilliant ice-blue reiatsu into it.

"I asked someone from the twelfth to make it based of your clip. They just finished in time for our vacation so I thought I would make it a present for you getting to leave the hospital."

"The twelfth, huh? I guess that would explain the weird shape." Toshiro had to bite back a chuckle at her slightly cruel words because it was 100% true. The shape seemed to be a sphere with various tubes sticking out and interconnecting in a mostly random pattern.

"Done," Toshiro declared, stopping the flow of his reiatsu inside and dropping the thing to the ground. Karin watched as it fell and bounced once off the floor, then was suddenly surrounded by her boyfriend's familiar reiatsu.

The power glowed and created a sphere around the object-because it was obviously more impressive than something just called thing- which bounced one more time before Toshiro picked it up.

The reiatsu around the object seemingly solidified as it evened out and Karin could see what it had created.

"A soccer ball."

Karin's voice was a slightly awd whisper but her eyes were practically blazing with excitement. As Toshiro watched her he knew he had made the right decision.

"I thought we could play it while we're on our vacation. We don't have to but it'd be a pain to have to try packing several soccer balls in our luggage in case one of them pops. This one will never really break regardless of how much force we kick it with."

He held out the ball and Karin took it gratefully. Through squishing it she was able to determine that despite being made of reiatsu it actually had an elastic texture and almost seemed to be made of the usual rubber.

It was perfect.

"I can't believe you got this!" She whispered in a slightly- okay, extremely- flabbergasted tone. One of the downsides to becoming a Shinigami was that even though she got to see Toshiro all the time they rarely had time to play soccer like they used to. While it had not been more than a few months since they last played it was still nowhere near as much as she would have liked.

"Well, we're leaving for the trip soon so it seemed like the perfect time to give it to you as a 'get well present'."

"As a get well present," Karin repeated, then turned to him with a single, raised eyebrow. "Shiro, I haven't even left my bed for, like, a week but don't assume I won't be able to play soccer just as well when I manage to stand up."

Toshiro quickly raised his hands in surrender, taking a cautious step away from her bed.

"I didn't mean that. Would you prefer if I called it a 'glad to have you back present'? It's more celebrating how you got out of the forth." He made a point of not expressing any doubt in regards to her soccer playing abilities. He also was sure she would be able to play soccer just as well once she was able to stand up and took some basic therapy.

"...Okay, I'm fine with that," she decided and relaxed slightly. "On that subject, when will I be able to leave this bed?"

"Soon, I think. Do you want me to go ask a member of the forth for a more exact time?"

"That'd be great, thanks."

"I'll be right back."

* * *

With Toshiro gone, Karin was finally conscious enough to think without having someone to talk to. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, allowing her body to relax.

When she opened her eyes again she was on a large, dry field at night. The air was dry, the plants were dead and there were many rocks sliced straight in half but, despite this, the area was almost… peaceful.

Not in the idealized-flower-patch-picnic-with-birds-and-a-sun-hat, of course, but it was a bit of a no- distractions- no- expectations-no-masks kind of place. The dry grass hid several huge cannons in the ground- far too straight to have been formed naturally.

If earthquakes were possible inside an inner world.

Finished appreciating the scenery, Karin turned her head slightly to the right and her eyes landed on a small cluster of life. There were bright trees surrounding a calm lake with various objects surrounding the pond.

A quick shunpo had her standing in front of the lake in an instant, and she kneeled down to scoop some water into her hands. Just before she managed to touch the water, she heard a voice which made her stop.

"Karin, welcome back."

"Aella." The one who spoke nodded and Karin stood up to face her zanpakuto spirit. Her spirit looked like an older version of her, just with different-colored streaks in her hair and a long, red dress she would never choose to wear. The colors in her hair were easy to see the origin of, if only because of how distinctive the colors were. She had Ichigo's orange, Yuzu's light brown, a color she assumed was her mom's hair and one new one she had not seen before.

"I need to show you a few things. Your inner world has changed slightly." Her spirit's words broke off Karin's thoughts for later, and she nodded at her spirit to continue.

Aella made a beckoning motion with her hand and Karin followed to the other side of her lake. As they walked, they passed by several trees. Each tree was unique, a different kind, varying colors and decorated.

One small tree had golden-orange leaves, pink flowers, bark the color of syrup, various decorations of ribbons and glitter and smelled of irresistible cooking. Yuzu. The next was a tall black tree shaped similarly to a pine tree and covered with a completely random set of decorations. Isshin.

She passed by Ichigo's magnificent, tall, _unbreakable_ tree with flowered vines covering it for Orihime and stopped when she saw what her zanpakuto spirit wanted her to find.

It was an evergreen tree. Or it would be, except it was completely white. The bark was white, the leaves where white, there was snow on top and the air seemed to be several degrees colder here. The tree was decorated with a teal ribbon and several ornaments of the tenth division logo. Karin could have sworn there was a bit of ice forming in her lake next to it.

"Wow, I guess I really haven't been here in awhile, huh."

"Definitely, but that's not the point. Though it _is_ something I'd like you to think about in the future-" Karin turned her head away to hide her blush, but it was impossible to hide anything from your own zanpakuto "-I'll let it slide for now. I first want to thank you for giving me another tree in this place, sometimes I wonder if your brother's rain is preferable to the heat waves we get here whenever you're angry."

"I can't help that!"

"Right. Well, thank you for expanding my forest, the cool air this one gives me is definitely a huge plus. And he helps you relax. The heat waves are less strong when you talk to him, he's helping you sort out some of your feelings."

Once again, Karin turned her head, attempting to hide blush. Just for a different reason.

She raised her eyebrow, "And this is at least better than when you weren't a couple yet and I would get random heat flashes here for seemingly no reason."

Karin was sure she was a deep, deep red by now. Why did her zanpakuto have to be like this? She loved Aella, but despite being one of the less cryptically vague spirits she had also somehow inherited Karin's sarcasm. Karin was not used to it being used against her, even after all the time she had known her spirit for.

"What else did you want to talk about?" Karin hurriedly interrupted before Aella could speak again. She made a mental not to come by Toshiro's tree again later when she could admire it without feeling her face becoming a sauna.

Weird, since the tree was actually the coolest part of her inner world.

This time, to her slight surprise, Aella hesitated.

"...It's also important. Follow me." While Karin would probably never admit to this she was slightly worried about Aella's hesitation. As a spirit so closely tied to her personality Aella almost never doubted herself or was hesitant.

They walked together in silence for a while, Karin trying to see what would make Aella so nervous while the spirit was unusually unresponsive and un-sarcastic (if that's actually a word). She was also curious about the fact that Aella chose to walk instead of using shunpo to reach their destination faster.

Almost like she was stalling.

But even stalling does not put something off forever. Soon Aella was forced to stop and Karin could see what had her spirit so hesitant.

Two trees- small, but not in the same natural way as Yuzu's, more like ones that just started growing- were present. One was mostly a light brown with yellow leaves and decorations consisting mainly of kido- themed ornaments. The other was almost identical in colors, but much more straight and did not branch out what-so-ever. It also had a tiny bit of the snow from Toshiro's tree covering one part while the rest was covered in noble traditional ornaments.

It was pretty obvious these trees belonged to Kanna and Takahiro. It was also completely obvious what about them had Aella so nervous and uncharacteristically worried.

They had both been completely uprooted and lay decaying on the ground.

"I already knew," Karin paused, making sure she had her zanpakuto's attention. "I knew I lost my trust in them. Why go through all the trouble of showing me this?"

"Because… you say you understand but you only mean the facts of the matter which can be put into words. You were also confused why you were taking this so hard even though you've only known them for several months. Here's your answer."

Karin looked down at the trees and saw the decay beginning to form. She looked down at the pit where the roots of her trees used to be. Aella stepped forward.

"Can you tell me what answer I want you to get?"

Karin paused sorting through her thoughts. Aella's multi-colored hair swayed slightly in the wind which was starting to form due to Karin's rampant emotions.

"I… It's because I don't trust many people. I was starting to need them to fulfil a purpose in my life- to be the colleges and friends I didn't have. When they left, that trust was destroyed and I needed someone to fill the void left over but no one could."

"Correct. This is the first time our… oasis has gotten smaller. You need to learn to deal with this. Yes, we don't know everything, but you need to be able to deal with this happening so that you don't completely shut down."

Karin nodded once and Aella continued. "You're going on this vacation, you'll have time. Learn to deal with this, not shut everyone out for fear that this will happen again."

"I wouldn't ha-"

"Probably not, but you wouldn't have done the right thing either." Here, Aella paused, allowing Karin to digest what she had said. "Remember what I told you, the white tree helps you calm down and feel better when you talk to it. Try that."

"Okay... thanks Aella." Karin waved to her spirit and got a nod back, then woke up in the world of the dead, Soul Society.

* * *

When she opened her eyes the white tree, no, Toshiro -whenever she left her inner world she got that confused for a moment- was standing by her bed.

"Hey, Shiro. How you doing?" He quirked a slight smile at hearing the familiar nickname and Karin wondered how long he had been waiting for her to wake up.

"They said you can leave the bed now. You should be well enough to do so but they want someone to help you up the first time until you get the hang of things."

"And you _oh so courageously_ volunteered for that role, mister white knight?" Toshiro's blush told her she was one hundred percent correct.

He offered a hand to her and she looked up in slight surprise. "Wait, you're actually doing that? I know they said to but we both know how paranoid they are. I can stand up on my own."

"I know. Doesn't mean you should have to."

Karin paused for a moment before conceding and allowing him to pull her up. Once she was standing and had gotten her balance she moved up onto her tiptoes and kissed him- succeeding in momentarily surprising him before he kissed her back.

* * *

1) This is a real place, but I just looked online for it. What you see the characters do might be influenced by what I find about it but don't expect the things I will describe to happen in real life. I just sort of gazed over this: ( en/the-region/st-anton/st-anton-am-arlberg-in-winter) for the setting. Also, yeah, I know I had Karin live a while before dying and story wise that happen years ago so this would be in the future but don't expect me to show much science fiction stuff. It just doesn't fit in with my story.

2) Okay, so I _literally don't remember_ if I've shown her with a different inner world! If I have tell me and I'll change it but I forgot! And yeah, I know I was a bit heavy on the symbolism but I'm not yet creative enough to make something much better.


	23. Chapter 23

A gust of wind rushed past as Karin looked around the mall. Shops were lined up from every direction she could look and Karin had to take a deep breath to avoid running away.

This was always more Yuzu's thing than her's.

At least she did not have to go in any of them, especially the ones she saw in front of her covered in pink ribbons. While she had nothing _against_ that kind of place, it was definitely not her thing. It reminded her too much of Yuzu anyway, it brought up some depressing emotions.

Ironic, considering _she_ was the one who had died.

Toshiro had some extra paperwork to finish up as a captain-well, actually he was working ahead for when he got back, the workaholic- so he would not arrive for a little while. Karin had some time to herself as she waited.

 _Then again, if I have this much time I might as well try to find something I like,_ she thought. Swinging her bag behind her shoulder, Karin began to walk through the mall for shops. Wind continued to send her hair flying as people opened the door to the mall, so Karin decided that, at the very least, she should get away from the door.

A shop she passed by was beeping with the sounds of people trying out the latest electronics. It's bright lights and colors, however, made her feel like someone was trying to cast kido at her everytime she saw as flash in the corner of her eye.

And to think that she used to view things like this as an everyday part of life only a decade ago. (1) Though only shinigami would view a decade as a short amount of time.

Karin continued to walk through the mall, admiring several intricate decorations along the way, before stopping in front of a seemingly promising store. It was not too colorful, adopting mostly darker shades of red, purple and blue into the clothing and, while not unwelcoming, was not as overly-cute- fun- happy- pastel- glitter as some of the stores she had passed by earlier.

Karin entered the store and immediately veered towards the less crowded side of the room. Everyone else present seemed to be checking out the new brand of shoes on the market but Karin was far more interested in the actual clothes.

Several things she found seemed to fit her criteria but not be enough to actually buy. A shinigami did not have much need for clothes from the human world in the first place, with apparently the exception of Matsumoto. Long term mission's like Rukia's were rare and Toshiro's while the winter war was going on even more so.

Karin stared at a simple, wide-shoulder tee-shirt in consideration. If she were Yuzu, she would probably decide to buy it on the fact that it was the same color as Toshiro's eyes. But, as she was not Yuzu, Karin simply scowled and turned away from it.

It would probably be an hour or so before the others arrived, and she had nothing better to do than go around shopping. Karin barely managed to restrain from sighing at that thought, Matsumoto had been trying to get Karin to agree to shop with her for years and _this_ was what forced it to happen.

Slowly, Karin continued to walk through the store, not looking for anything specific but at least making an effort to pay attention to what was around her. However, as she had absolutely no passion for shopping and hated what she was doing, she soon gave up and left the store.

Now feeling as if she had nervous energy to release, Karin picked up her pace and continued to walk around. Soon, she passed by a store selling various snacks and saw a container of small cream puffs. They were smaller than her fist and seemed to be a ball of dough filled with a cream on the inside, perfect for tea parties and flower watching.

The last thought reminded her of her idea to go flower watching with Toshiro and her friends so Karin pulled out her phone, taking a picture of the desert.

What do u think? She typed out, adding the picture she took. We could go cherry blossom watching and eat these.

Karin suddenly paused, her finger hovering over the 'send' button. She glanced up slightly and saw who she was texting.

Kanna.

Karin flinched slightly as she stared at the screen in her hand, otherwise completely still. Karin honestly did not even remember why she still had that girl's number but even seeing it now she could not quite bring herself to delete the contact.

"It won't matter," she whispered to herself. "It's not like it's illegal to have that number or anything and it makes sense for me to know her's. Besides, Kanna probably got rid of her soul phone as soon as possible to keep it from being traced."

Even as she whispered to herself in an attempt to gain confidence in the words she knew they were half-hearted and barely true at best.

Despite it mostly starting off with just her and Toshiro now that it was just them again it seemed so much more lonely.

No. Deep breath. Karin forced herself to breathe and calm down, to _stop thinking_ and relax. Practically shoving her phone back into her pocket she noticed she was starting to shake. The walk was meant to remove the nervous energy she had but Karin only found herself with _more_. She picked up her pace and allowed herself to calm down by practically running through the crowds. Once she had reached the other end of the mall she was taking slightly bigger breathes (the stupid gigai made exercising impossible) and sat down on a bench.

In all honest she did not know how she was supposed to feel. The psychologists in the seireitei were trained to help people who had watched their comrades die or gotten hurt themselves, not betrayed.

Maybe that was part of the reason Momo had taken Aizen's betrayal so hard.

Karin looked down and saw that her hand was unconsciously drifting closer to her phone, as if waiting for an excuse to grab it. Quickly, she slammed her other hand down on the first one, scaring quite a few pedestrians.

She needed to leave.

Karin, hoping a short time outside would help her catch her breath, tried to attract as little attention as possible and leave the mall.

* * *

Toshiro stretched his arm, still not completely used to being in a gigai. As he walked he found himself repeatedly clenching his hand into a first in an attempt to make it feel more natural. Soon, he was at the mall he and Karin had agreed to meet at.

While Karin was not the type to, he could not help wondering if she had been able to do some shopping while they had free time. He still did not really know what her taste in clothes were since they always had to wear shinigami uniforms.

Then, to his surprise, Toshiro felt Karin's reiatsu outside of the mall on an otherwise empty street. He knew she felt him about the same time because she turned around a second after he saw her. She did not look like she had been crying but it was obvious something was wrong.

Toshiro ran over to her and they met up, though Karin did not make eye contact. He was worried, surly the time he spent on paperwork could not have been enough for anything disastrous to have happened.

"Are you okay?"

Karin looked up and took a deep breath, "Yeah, I'm fine now."

Despite how obvious it was that something had bothered her he could hear no lie in her words now. Whatever it was, it was small enough that she could take care of it herself. The question remained; did she want to?

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She looked up and thought about it, reminded of her zanpakuto's words. He helped her with her emotions when they talked, but he had his own problems.

"I can handle what happened just now. Don't worry about it. What about you, are you okay?" Toshiro suddenly found he had no answer to her question and, judging by her sudden smile, she knew that was true.

"Come on," she made a simultaneous beckoning motion and started to walk, "We can talk about it as we walk."

They took several steps in silence and soon they were in the center of the mall. While the walk was completely in silence and Karin did not find it awkward Toshiro had to admit that he was completely unsure of what to do. It was rare for him to be the one who needs to be talked to, a result of him being the older member of their relationship.

And now that it was happening he felt slightly out of his depth.

"You know Shiro," Karin abruptly got his attention and stopped walking, instead standing in the middle of the busy mall, "We are always talking about how I'm feeling about this, you said it helps you too but I haven't really asked how you're feeling."

"You shouldn't have to."

Karin quirked an eyebrow up and smirked, "I do hope you realize that nothing works that way. Even Ichigo-nii asked Orihime to help him against the Quincy leader all those years ago."

"That was a fight, numerical superiority is a given. It was a different situation."

"Maybe, but deflecting like this isn't going to make this conversation end any faster. Try answering my question."

They locked gazes and stood in a standstill for several seconds until Toshiro sighed and traced a hand through his white spikes in frustration.

"It was my responsibility. I should have noticed sooner, they spent so much time with me and we even suspected them, it shouldn't have happened."

"There, see? That wasn't so hard."

"You know patronizing me isn't going to encourage me to continue telling you how I feel." Karin tried- kinda- to hold in a laugh, but it was pretty obvious to Toshiro what was happening. His pink cheeks reflected that.

Karin glanced over and saw his embarrassed state, causing her smile to become a smirk. Toshiro looked over and glared, the pink quickly fading.

"So," Karin abruptly decided to change topic, "Did you get any reports I should know about in that mountain of paperwork you were finishing?"

It was business again, and Toshiro's body language immediately changed into something more militaristic as a result.

"A little. Kyoraku-soutaicho and central forty-six are agreeing on something for once. A full investigation is going to be done on every member of the Gotei Thirteen. The captains are already checked out so they'll be leading it. We won't be continuing to do our investigation in the shadows, but the same sort of thing will continue."

"Who's handling our squad?"

"Matsumoto will be. All the lieutenants were checked out so Kira, Hisagi, Renji and Momo might be helping her out when they're done with their squads."

Karin nodded, understanding the practicality of those decisions. "Still, I'm surprised Kyoraku-soutaicho and their royal majesties _the central forty-six_ actually agreed on something."

"Well I can't confirm this, but I think the central agreed to this because they're terrified of another Aizen and want to be sure they're not caught off guard like they just were again. We were starting to investigate, but the central hadn't been treating them as an actual threat. They're probably acting out of fear right now."

"As always," Karin muttered with a sigh. "And Kyoraku does it so that we can be sure of our squad's loyalty and our ability to work in a unit isn't ruined, huh. So it's only a coincidence that they agree on something?"

"Seems to be."

"Should've known." Karin said in a tired whisper. Karin looked around the mall they were in and twitched slightly.

"What's wrong?"

Karin turned to him and glanced back around the mall. "Everything today has just felt odily placid. Like there's nothing important happening. I know I just got out of the hospital and it's probably good I'm taking some time off but it's really starting to bother me."

Toshiro tilted is head slightly as he thought about that for a moment. If she felt that way it would make sense why she was fidgeting, her battle instincts noticed everything around her was unusual - well, actually everything around her was normal, it's just that her day to day life is so weird that normal life felt wrong- and as a result were making her paranoid. Making her feel like everything was different and new and she might be in danger of an attack.

"I suppose even when we go shopping it's always in the seireitei and we can still use our spirit energy. Maybe you're feeling off because the gigai seals some of your power and you're not around your zanpakuto right now?"

Normally, only lieutenants and captains would get their reiatsu lowered during trips to the human would, but when it was brought up that Karin was _Ichigo Kurosaki's sister_ it was a unanimous decision to have her reiatsu sealed as well.

A good thing too, or the people directly surrounding them might have started to have trouble breathing from being next to a shinigami captain at the same time as Karin.

Going back to the problem at hand, Toshiro considered what he could do to make Karin feel better about being here. It was supposed to be a vacation, if said vacation made her _more_ stressed than she was before something was going wrong.

"You just got out of the hospital," he reminded, making sure she kept that in mind, "But if we limit ourselves and don't go crazy and be careful we could try sparring."

For a brief second Karin's face lit up in happiness to the idea, then just as quickly deflated into annoyance and her family's signature scowl.

"I'd love to, but the healers said no fighting-even sparring- for a while unless there is nothing I can do to avoid it. It'll probably be okay once we get closer to the end of the trip but for now they'll kill me if I hurt myself by trying it."

Toshiro was about to point of the irony in that situation when he remembered Unohana and immediately stopped. She had a point, healers could be absolutely terrifying.

Karin scowl then lightened up again- Toshiro honestly loved when he could read through her emotions, especially with how difficult that was sometimes- and she turned to him in contained but obvious excitement.

"We probably can't do anything now, it might still be too much moving, but we can try to find a place to play with that ball-maker-thingy you got me."

It took even Toshiro's genius brain a half second to realize what the 'ball-maker-thingy' was but once he did his expression also lightened. Both of them loved to play soccer after all.

"So you want us to go around and look at different parks in the area?" Karin shook her head at his suggestion and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you really think we're going to be able to have any fun if people are able to watch us? We'll need to hold back but not that much. And if we play anything close to hard enough to have fun then people are probably going to gather 'round."

"You're that confident in our abilities?"

"Please, I know they will. Humans always are attracted to what's unusual and special in the world, and even if they weren't people who look like they're teleporting across the field are going to draw some attention."

Toshiro was forced to concede to that point. He glanced out one of the mall windows to the cold air with a small layer of snow forming outside and the lights of the many businesses nearby. While he would love to work in the snow he knew it would probably lead to some uncomfortable questions if someone asked how he wasn't slipping or cold.

"Then where would you have us look for?"

"That's what we're going to find out and that's why we're not holding this off until we actually want to play have have to scramble for something at the last minute."

"You know, if you would just put a fraction of this effort, planning and foresight into doing your paperwork we-"

" _We_ are not going to discuss work right now. Does the word 'vacation' even register in your mind? Do you know the definition? Or is there a weird empty silence there every time I try to say it to you. Maybe we should get that checked out."

Rolling his eyes, Toshiro gave her a fond smile, happy to see she was almost completely back to normal; or at least appeared to be.

"Alright then, we'll go look for somewhere we can play soccer. If worst comes to worst I can just make us an arena made of ice somewhere in the mountains."

"Yeah but do you know how much work it would take to clear out the inside? I'm not that good at kido in the first place, we both know that's a disaster waiting to happen."

Toshiro had to, once again, admit that she had a point. While he was slightly curious what would happen his self-preservation instincts kept him from being curious enough to find out.

"Alright then," Toshiro pulled out his phone and opened the search bar, pulling up a map of the area they were in. "You'll go look at the various gyms and see if it's possible for us to rent a room there, we can strengthen the walls with kido. I'll go check out the other large places it might be possible for us to rent out, we can just change the inside. Money is not an issue."

"You're one of the most powerful military leaders in existence and I'm a possible heir to one of the five great noble clans and privy to more money than a town or small country. I think I can figure out money isn't a problem on my own."

Karin's smirk became more of a genuine smile when Toshiro could not completely stop the laugh that came out from her words. He looked up to her smile and rolled his eyes, shaking his head as if resigned to her behavior.

"Anyways, we'll go on our own and meet up at 6:00 pm tonight for dinner in front of the hotel, I don't care if you leave your gigai while looking around but wear it and more formal clothes when you come to meet with me tonight-"

"Is this another terrible attempt to ask me out on a date?"

Apparently deciding that statement was not even worth a response Toshiro continued without missing a beat, "If you decide to take off your gigai you can go around and check out the inside of the buildings but remember you can't talk to people. Also, make sure you don't leave your gigai somewhere where a civilian could find it and cause a commotion. They look a lot like corpses when not inhabited."

"Understood, Captain!" Karin yelled with a salute and small bow. Instantly, Toshiro became more aware of the fact that he had transitioned into his military mask while barking out orders.

Karin thought it was pretty cute.

Because _obviously_ it was such an ingrained part of him to be a military leader that even when on the outside he looked like any other middle school student- granted, one with snow white hair- he could not resist ordering people around.

He was like a child pretending to be like his super cool military dad… at least he would be if it were not for the fact that he _did_ have hundreds of people under his command and could easily destroy a country if he set his mind to it.

But other than that he was adorable!

* * *

The two parted ways soon after and set about trying to find a place for them to play soccer in private. It was actually both easier and harder than Karin thought it would be-please ignore how much of a paradox that is- and she found herself having a bit of fun.

The easier part was finding good places. They were in a village in the middle of the mountains, despite her previous worries it became pretty obvious that up here there was nothing but land to build on. Huge buildings were practically on every street.

The hard part was finding a gym that would be willing to rent out anything so big. Sure, they could make the soccer goals themselves if they really wanted to but it would be so much easier just to strengthen an already existing pair. Karin felt that it was detrimental that she find a place with soccer goals for them to use.

In other words; she was lazy and as a result causing herself more work. No, don't ask how she did not realize that or how it is possible.

(2) "I'm sorry miss, but I really can't allow you to rent out such a large place, no matter how much money you're willing to spend. I just don't have that authority." Karin barely kept herself from sighing in frustration as she was rejected once again. Stupid people actually doing their jobs,

Just as she turned to leave she saw something that might help with her problem. On the wall was a display showing a box which advertised for portable soccer goals. They would not be very strong and they were probably easy to break but kido could fix that. It was much less work that making a whole net from scratch just using reiatsu.

"One more thing," she told the employee who looked like they had been about to leave, "Are you selling that right now?"

The employee's eye followed her gaze and pointed finger to the soccer net she had seen, and his expression became slightly relieved.

"Yes, you can have that. I can help you get one if you would please follow me," he began walking to a storage room in the back. "Is there any color you would like the best?"

"...Do you have any teal?" Karin asked, thinking of her boyfriend. If she was doing this without telling him first she might as well try to pick a color that she knew he liked. Made it more likely for him to agree with her choice.

"We do, I'll get it for you right away." He sped up and Karin wondered if he was so enthusiastic because she had allowed some of her annoyed reiatsu to escape earlier and he was now scared of her.

She was completely right. Though she would probably become slightly depressed hearing that, so she did not ask him if she was right.

* * *

It was 5:50 pm and Karin was heading down to meet up with Toshiro. While she was never one to actually care about appearance she did remember to glance in the mirror before she left the room for the front of the hotel.

On her way down she fiddled with the clip in her hair. It was the one she had gotten from Toshiro those few months ago and held onto ever since.

Absent-mindedly, Karin wondered if this was the longest she had ever kept a piece of jewelry without losing it. In all honesty it probably was.

Yuzu would tell her that such a thing would be terrible after she got married and risked losing her wedding or engagement ring.

Shaking off the sting of sadness Karin felt every time she thought of the twin she had not seen in a decade Karin opened the hotel door to find Toshiro waiting outside.

Neither of them went crazy high-heels-and-her-weight-in-jewelry-tux-and-tie, but they both looked nice. It would be a nice, casual date, just what both of them liked best.

It was sometimes amazing how well they fit together.

"I found a great restaurant this way, the locals recommend it."

"Guess we'll have to see if we can trust their judgement." Toshiro smiled at her comment and the two of them walked side-by-side to the restaurant.

* * *

1) Okay, so I looked it up and it seems like Bleach first came out in 2004. If Karin was eleven or twelve then, I think she would be twenty and with her job by 2012 could die in 2012-2013, and still have a few years to work up the ranks in Soul Society. I feel like this is a pretty good time frame so I don't actually need to show any futuristic sci-fi stuff since we're still in the modern era. Perfect!

2) I know, it's supposed to be in another language. No, I don't know if they speak English or Japanese there but I would doubt it. I'm just super lazy.


	24. Chapter 24

Luckily, the restaurant recommended by the locals completely surpassed their expectations. Food in Soul Society was almost always Japanese, even with the recent mix of cultures due to Ichigo's influence. Karin thought the reason Ichigo helped get so many different types of food in Soul Society was actually not due to selfless culture exchange but because of Orihime- who may or may not have wanted to make the different food for everyone to try herself- but it worked out for everyone so who was she to complain.

The next morning, Karin and Toshiro were at the place Toshiro had found for playing soccer, setting up Karin's net. Karin was relieved that the small amount of kido she could confidently do was useful in the current situation, even if Toshiro did most of the work.

"I'm honestly a little surprised we did so well." Karin commented as she stared with a small amount of pride at the net. She was pretty sure even running a bus into it would not break it at this point after all the power they put into it.

"I'm a genius and you're a high seated officer with surprising amounts of reiatsu. Why are you surprised?" Toshiro asked as he finished testing the net out.

"I was pretty sure we were going to blow ourselves up."

"It wouldn't have hurt us."

"Guess so, silver lining," Karin paused, then continued, "Who would have thought we'd be able to think up a silver lining to accidentally blowing ourselves up."

She was pretty sure she heard Toshiro chuckle at that but could not be sure. Then, apparently happy with the work they had done, he stood up and faced her.

"We can test this out with some actual soccer now. Do you want to try going against me?"

Despite his indifferent expression Karin knew from his eyes that he was a little excited over the idea. Both of them had another part to themselves in the sport which could not come out in most of their everyday lives.

But it was the longing for physical activity she had that really sealed the deal. Her answer was predetermined and obvious.

"Only if you're ready to lose. If you're not feeling up to it I completely understand."

He smirked, his teal eyes sharpening with concentration. "You wish."

Pulling out the weird device he gave her from the twelfth, Karin turned it on and watched in delite as a soccer ball formed. She dropped it and let it bounce a few times on the ground, kicking it between her feet to remind herself how to move.

Toshiro walked over to the opposite side of the court, standing in front of a wall they had also strengthened. While slightly harder to play soccer with only two people if one of them was offence and one of them was defense and both of them were at the level of Toshiro and Karin then they could easily make it work.

(1) Karin, satisfied with the movements, calmly kicked the ball over to her boyfriend. He bounced it on his knees a few times then, suddenly, sent a strong kick toward the goal. Karin defended it only for Toshiro to appear where the ball landed and kick it at the net again.

Karin smirked. _This_ was what she had been missing in her life. The thrill packed into a non- life threatening experience. Toshiro bounced the ball and kicked again and Karin couldn't completely stop herself from smiling.

* * *

The lodge on the bottom floor of their hotel room was, oddly enough, never packed with people. That, and the combination of soft furniture and great food, made this Karin's favorite place in the hotel. The only thing that could make it better would be if it weren't so hot.

Toshiro hated that part.

He stayed in the lodge not because Karin begged him to- "I'm heading down to the lodge, want to come?" "Do you want me to?" "I refuse to beg you for something like this," "I didn't say that"- but because it was the only place they could really go without being enveloped in a crowd of people.

It was just that busy here.

While most people had gone to the slopes for the day, plenty stayed behind as well. Or some, like Karin and Toshiro, were setting off one day to get into their rooms and explore the town before heading up the mountains.

Karin looked up as Toshiro sat down across from her. She was drinking hot cocoa while he was having a popsicle-don't ask where he got it from- as they sat as far away from the fireplace as they could. It was almost surprising how Toshiro was still getting a bit warm while eating something so cold, but Karin realized he usually lowered the temperature of the air around him and decided not to while in the world of the living.

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" Karin asked after eating a few marshmallows in her hot chocolate. Toshiro looked up then, instead of answering, reached across and wiped some of the whipped cream that had gotten on her cheek.

Karin's blush wasn't just a result of the heat, and it only increased when Toshiro smirked at her as he licked the whipped cream.

"Peppermint flavored." He commented in slight surprise. Karin nodded, though she had no idea how they were able to make the whipped cream peppermint flavored. Yuzu had done something similar one New Years dinner.

"To answer your question, I think we'll be heading to the mountains. I brought a snowboard and ski for each of us so you can decide what you want to do."

"I'm pretty good at skiing but I think I'd like to try my hand at snowboarding. Just a fair warning, I've got no idea how to and have never tried before."

"I wouldn't worry about that. I can teach you and you're so far above most other people in terms of athletic ability that it will probably come easily. Besides, you know how to ski so it's not like you're starting something for the first time."

His expression was as blank and calm as usual but Karin could see the genuine warmth in his eyes backing up his words.

She nodded and took another sip of her drink, careful to not get any whipped cream stuck this time. "I don't think we have much else to do today but I'd rather not go ice skating. When I do it at these kind of places I almost always seem to run into kids."

Toshiro smiled in understanding, "That's fine. There's probably a huge number of people who want to go ice skating right now so I'd rather avoid that. Besides, I can make a frozen lake to ice skate on any time I want to but it's pretty tricky for me to find a could mountain to snowboard on. Do you want to just stay in the lodge."

"That seems like the best idea for now. Though tell me if there's something else you want to do, there's nothing special about the lodge that makes me refuse to leave it."

"I'll keep that in mind," Toshiro bit down on the last piece of his popsicle and then threw the stick almost across the room into the trash.

"Show off," Karin muttered with a smirk when she saw almost a dozen people- out of the like, thirteen people in the building- whip around when they saw his action and start whispering to each other in awed tones.

"It wasn't that special. _Any_ human can do that with enough practice."

"What you seem to be failing to understand is that, yes, they can do that much with practice. But almost no one does. Surly, after being the youngest graduate of the academy, you would understand that much."

A girl who had been whispering to her friends once she saw what he did suddenly stood up and began to walk in their general direction.

"Do you want to leave?" Karin asked, entirely too amused for the girlfriend of a boy who was probably going to be flirted with by another woman.

After taking a half-second to glare at her, Toshiro agreed with a nod and stood up, Karin instantly following him out the door. As she left Karin turned around and saw the disappointed look on the other girl's face, but then the girl's friends came to console her and she brightened up. Karin smiled as she saw the girl shrug and walk back to her table without a second thought. It seemed like he was nothing more than an opportunity and Karin felt herself relax at that thought.

And then she almost rammed into a door frame. Turns out it is not a great idea to walk while looking behind you, but luckily her reflexes were able to save the day.

"So, where to?" Karin asked once they had reached the center of the town, any direction she looked there was a shop to try out.

"You didn't get to finish your hot chocolate, would you like to find a place where you can get another one?" He asked, looking like he felt guilty for forcing her to leave earlier than they planned.

"Don't worry about that, your hair and eye colors would have probably attracted her attention anyways if we waited long enough. Besides, I'm pretty sure she would have just asked you out and then accepted it if you said you were already in a relationship."

"How do you know?" Toshiro obviously had not turned around because he was usually better at reading people than Karin. But, even though that was the truth, Karin answered with something else just because.

"Intuition. Girls can tell things about each other without needing any other information. It's kinda like reiatsu sensing, only even more accurate."

The look of confusion on his face for a grand total of a fraction of a second made the whole experience worth it.

"Anyways, I think going somewhere we can see the snow from would be nice." Karin stated and Toshiro smiled at her, aware she had said that half for herself and half for him. He turned to look around and pointed at a close brightly-painted building.

"That one has a crepe stand. We could get some and then eat out here." Karin turned and saw where he was pointing, instantly brightening.

"Sure, I haven't been to one of those in forever. Not since I died." Karin said that last sentence a little bit too loudly and several people turned to stare at her. She quickly pulled Toshiro inside and tried to pretend she hadn't totally forgotten where she was just a second ago.

There was a long line inside so Karin and Toshiro stood to the back and looked up at the different menu options. As she gazed across even she had to open her mouth at the sheer amount of _sugar_ that was being offered there. Matsumoto would love to look at this shop, especially when the adorable decorations were added in.

Actually, maybe she would be able to convince Matsumoto to not continue her- terrible- matchmaking schemes which were, by all accounts probably going to result in a building either on fire or frozen sooner or later.

"Hey, Shiro?" Karin muttered and he looked down from the billboard to her. "How much sugar do you think I would need to bribe a high ranking member of the military into overlooking anything we do together?"

Once again, a few of the people closest to them turned their heads, and Karin became aware that despite removing any mention of the afterlife it was still a really weird thing to ask.

Sometimes she felt like her life was strange.

Toshiro looked like he was considering her question, and then asked, "Is that military member named Matsumoto?"

"Yup."

"Would you use it by offering it to her directly or just information about it?"

"Information."

When she glanced over she saw Toshiro smiling like she had just given him a _wonderful_ idea. In all honesty she probably had.

"I'd say you would be best off offering information about the savory ones, then one description of a dessert crepe and leave Matsumoto curious about the rest."

"Good to know." Karin responded and looked back at the different flavors being offered. Nutella was going with all sorts of fruits, and seemed to make up the majority of what was being ordered. Karin actually did a double take when she heard a young boy order marshmallow and nutella but she supposed it could make a good combination.

"What are you thinking of getting?" Karin leaned closer to Toshiro as she asked the question and felt him reach out to grab her hand.

"I don't know, I'm not all that hungry."

"Want to share one then? Could be fun." Karin offered, her eyes landing on the most popular crepe. "We could get strawberry nutella with ice cream."

Toshiro considered that for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. Should we get vanilla ice cream? If we're sticking with popular and classic it might be our best bet."

"Sure, but you don't have to phrase it that way. You make it sound boring, just call it well known to be good, there's a reason it's popular."

They were soon at the front of the line and ordered their crepe. Karin saw several other couples looking about the same as the two of them, but was struck by the realization that, well…

"I can't believe all these couples around us our decades younger." Toshiro looked over at her, wondering why she was bringing that up. "I mean, we're still totally kids by soul reaper standards, but we could be their parent or, hell, you could be the grandparent of some of them."

"That'd only be if we hadn't died. We're a different species now, and you shouldn't weigh yourself by human years. It'll just hurt your head. Remember, Yamamoto-soutaichou was over _two thousand_ years old when he died. We don't even scratch the surface of that."

"Yeah, sorry, you're right." He gave her hand a squeeze through their interlocking fingers that made her smile.

"Don't worry, we've all thought about that at one point. I know some newer squad members who come back from a trip to the world of the living where everything is completely different than they remember and need therapy. That's started increasing now that the humans are evolving so fast, but it's always been true."

Karin nodded, knowing that she was one of the youngest souls to become a Shinigami- ignoring Ichigo- and probably would come to accept those things with time. She supposed her going to Soul Society immediately after death and joining up with the other _Shinigami_ (souls who also aged slowly) made that fact that she was… well, dead not completely sink in. It had been more like visiting another world than actual death, and she was just now starting to accept her situation.

"I've kept a little bit of contact with Yuzu though Ichigo," she mentioned, not using her nickname for her brother despite the fact that she was trying to get her boyfriend in the habit of using it. "But I'm kinda starting to wonder what happened to my other friends now, they'd all have been working for a while."

"I'm sure they're hugely successful. Be careful though, we're not alive anymore, try not to get too attached to this world."

Karin nodded and sat down on a nearby bench, Toshiro following her shortly after. For several minutes they talked, more out of boredom than anything, before evolving into a pleasant silence.

As she sat, Karin began to think about those who she used to know in the world of the living. She had never been interested in dating, though she had tried dating someone once just to see what it was like.

That hadn't ended well.

Other than him, Karin had her group of friends from middle and elementary school. They had made up a soccer team most of the time and everyone else was a boy, but Karin still thought of them as her friends. _They_ had thought of her as their leader.

After middle school they had all joined high school together and entered the official soccer team for their school. However, now that they were in high school and on an actual team the teams were divided to girls and boys, splitting the group us somewhat.

Last she had heard, they had all left and gone to different colleges after high school.

No, it wasn't right to say _they_ had left, she was the one who had died and left them all behind. Just like Kanna left her behind-

She shook her head, frantically stopping her thoughts from heading in that direction. She did not know everything about what had happened and even if she did getting depressed over it would not help.

She cleared her mind and re-focused her attention on the piece of crepe she had pulled off so they could share. Toshiro had already finished most of the ice cream but had left her with most of the crepe, a fact she was impossibly grateful for.

"I'm still having trouble believing that you can eat ice cream when the temperature is below freezing out here." Karin told him when he licked his lips.

"You know why, it shouldn't be such a surprise."

"Yeah, but I still don't get why they offer ice cream there. Who else would ask for ice cream in winter, even if you ate it at home. You'll probably have just gotten back from playing in the snow."

"You could have just gotten back from the hot tubs and decided to have this," Toshiro suggested, though there was a slight scowl accompanying it that told Karin exactly how he actually felt about that idea.

"At least it's better than all that old people food you like to eat. I don't think anyone would believe we're teenagers or even young adults if you showed up here eating candied beans."

"If I remember correctly, _you_ said they weren't bad."

Karin shrugged and continued to eat her crepe, leaning back against the wall. Now that her thoughts had been brought there, memories from her life were continuing to whiz through her train of thought without hesitation.

* * *

As a high school student, Karin was the star of the girls soccer varsity team, and was asked several times whether she would be going pro. Her academics were still high, mimicking her brother's high athletics- though not in fighting- and grades from when he was in highschool. Essentially, everything in her life was a bit too easy.

And she _hated_ it.

She was reasonably close to every member of the soccer team, but none of them really saw her as their equal. However, there was one upside; in middle and high school Toshiro would sometimes stop by for work and would agree to play soccer with her.

Whenever Toshiro arrived it was like she was finally with someone who was able to support her just as much as she supported him, as several members of the team had noticed last time they had played together.

So, obviously, when her brother called her to let her know he was in town and going to stop by her house she was (just a little) excited.

She arrived at her home with several friends and had them all introduce themselves to each other. Then, for no real reason other than boredom, they all went on a walk to a nearby park- mainly because not all of Karin's friends loved to play soccer and Toshiro had not idea how long he would be able to stay.

A friend of Karin's, who had a love of science and learning about the world, asked her why Toshiro seemed to have silent footsteps as they walked.

Karin found she did not know what kind of answer she was supposed to give in return. Actually, she probably would have said he was an evil spirit-with a completely straight face-if she had not known he would leave the second he heard that. A pity.

To her annoyance several of her friends started to blush whenever Toshiro would talk to them and lose all ability to make rational conversation. Like, dear god, _she_ had never turned into a blushing, stuttering school girl- well, the first part, she was technically a school girl- the first time she met him, and she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with her being younger then.

Regardless, as the walk continued her few friends became completely defeated and she was found that all their concentration was on the boy who had stopped by. And the worst part was it was obvious to _anyone_ who cared enough to look that Toshiro did not like the attention. Oh, he was used to it, a mix of his experience with politics and as a captain, but he did not enjoy it. Especially when he was being recognized for something like this rather than an accomplishment he had worked for.

Karin remembered the two of them making eye contact and having to simultaneously fight the urge to give a bit, long sigh of annoyance or disappointment.

* * *

The memory ended and Karin noticed she had finished here crepe. Toshiro glanced over then, having also been lost in thought while they ate. He pushed off from the wall and stretched, his power automatically making the temperature of the air closest to him drop a few degrees. Karin followed his actions- though without the cooling down part- and moved her body around slightly to shake it loose.

"So, you'll be teaching me to snowboard tomorrow, should we go rent some gear?" Karin also made a mental checklist of things they would not need- not because they already had it, but because of who they were.

"Sure, it shouldn't take too long if we don't need anything." Toshiro had obviously also had the same train of thought she did, though she supposed it was the obvious conclusion.

One, there was no point to getting them helmets (just so we're clear I'm not recommending this to anyone unless you're also a magical spirit). A ski helmet would not do much to someone who could get smashed through several buildings and only end up slightly winded.

Two, Toshiro would not need any big jackets or think pants or even really waterproof gear. Any water that came his way would just freeze and he had no problems with that. Though it might mean they would be attracting some looks when he came on the mountain in, like, a tee-shirt and sweatpants.

Oh, well.

Three, gloves for Toshiro would also be completely useless. That one probably does not need to be explained, especially considering the reasoning behind the previous.

Four, Karin would not need goggles or a set of sunglasses. While Toshiro also had no need for goggles, as both of them were used to the feeling of quickly moving through air from shunpo, Karin did not need sunglasses because of her zanpakuto's association with the sun, light and power. The last one had no impact but he first two meant it was hard to give her too much light.

That should make their shopping considerably easier. Especially since Matsumoto had already packed Karin everything she would need in terms of clothes and would not take "That's enough, we're only staying for a few days, not a year!" as an excuse.

With neither of them particularly liking shopping, Karin knew it would not take long. She also acknowledged that this was more relaxed than she had felt in a long time.

* * *

1) Just so that we're clear, I actually don't play soccer. I tried to keep it accurate but no promises. If anyone has some advice for me on how to fix that part please tell me. I won't be offended and will try to change the soccer part to something more like what you want.


	25. Chapter 25

While some people who go snowboarding for the first time might feel apprehensive or nervous as the lift begins taking them up the mountain, Karin only felt excited. She loved the feeling of the wind rushing past her face and the slight rush of adrenaline that came from dangerous situations like this.

It also might have helped that she thought Toshiro looked surprisingly good in his snow gear. Seeing him only ever wear his shinigami uniform (and occasionally mortal clothing) made the difference obvious.

The lift began to slow down and Karin used the method Toshiro had explained to her to slide off, barely stumbling as she went. Toshiro did the same- though looking a million times more graceful- and helped her get out of the way for the next group coming up.

The mountain was, thankfully, not overly crowded, but not desolate enough that a bunch of shops had closed. Karin thought they had picked- not that they had any actual choice in the matter- the perfect time to come up. Toshiro turned his teal eyes towards her and began reiterating his explanation of how to buckle the other boot in. Following his instructions, Karin found herself firmly attached to the board, even after jumping a few times to test its stability.

"Doesn't it worry you that we have less mobility with these on? I mean, it's similar with skis but at least then I can move my feet apart."

"It would be dangerous to have this on in a fight, but at this point I'm fairly confident we'd be able to destroy anything that came our way without leaving the boards or we'd be able to buy enough time to take them off. The important thing is that you notice if a hollow is coming before it does-"

"You know I'm terrible at sensing."

"Yes, I do." Toshiro confirmed with a small smile, "In fact, I'm half-tempted to believe the only one worse at it than you is your brother." Karin sent him a glare that did little more than make him smile. On the inside, however, she was a little happy her boyfriend was actually relaxed enough to try teasing her back. That rarely happened between the two of them before now.

"But you might be surprised," he finished, "you actually have a surprising amount of mobility on the snowboard."

Karin tilted her head slightly, accepting his explanation. The wind rushed past and made everyone- except, obviously, Toshiro- shiver.

"Should we get this lesson started then?" Karin asked, pushing herself off the snow. While she was here to learn snowboarding she had to keep in mind that the bigger goal was to allow herself and Toshiro to relax.

Toshiro nodded at her and began to show her how to shift her weight for turns, along with a reminder to, for now, keep her left leg forward while snowboarding. Once Karin felt confident with her ability the two of them began to slowly make long, wide turns down the mountain.

Toshiro, after he saw Karin was getting it, began to do simple helicopter spins to keep himself occupied. Left foot forward, then turn until your back is facing down, then keep turning until your left foot is forward, then repeat the process.

Soon, as he grew more comfortable with snowboarding again, he was making faster and faster turns while simultaneously keeping an eye on Karin. He loved the way he could control his movements differently on the snowboard in comparison to how he would for parkour. Karin was, similarly, having fun testing out what she could do.

After starting off with slow, easy turns Karin began to make smaller and faster ones, increasing her speed as she grew more comfortable. Soon, Karin was maneuvering down the mountain as fast as she felt like she could go. The wind rushed past her hair as she made turns by marginally shifting her weight back and forth.

The blast of adrenaline coursing through her veins caused her to smile in a way that she normally only did while playing soccer. While nowhere near as fast as she could go while using shunpo, there was something about the different experience that made it even more fun.

She could keep going like this forever. It was cool out that day, but the sun helped resist against the frigid air that shot past her face. At times like this Karin was glad her gigai was strong enough that it did not need a helmet or goggles to cover it. Now she could feel everything that-

Karin was weightless. It only lasted for a half second but it was long enough for her to snap out of the excitement she had clouded her mind with. In that second she realized she had just slipped on an icy part of the run and quickly forced herself to stop.

Even if that meant falling down in the process.

Toshiro pulled up beside her, quickly checking her over for injuries with a simple scan. It was highly unlikely her gigai could have gotten damaged from that, and Toshiro had been watching to make sure nothing else happened. While Karin had been going fast, it was still the easiest run, so there was a limit to her speed.

Lucky, or she might have hurt someone else.

"Are you done?" He asked her with an almost-patronizing raised eyebrow that made Karin scowl.

"I was just seeing how fast I could go."  
"The only reason you were able to stop yourself from falling is because of your training. Anyone else would probably have soared through the air and started rolling down the mountain."

"Good thing you taught me how to stop then!" Karin replied with a smirk. Toshiro rolled his eyes and turned away to see how much longer the run went on. While he had has back turned, Karin scooped up some snow and pressed it together in her hands.

Using one hand to shade his eyes despite the sunglasses he was wearing, Toshiro saw Karin had made it most of the way down the run and only had a little farther to go. Hopefully, she would not try to go as fast, he had to stop his helicopters when he realized she was no longer next to him.

He began to turn around to tell her when, seemingly out of nowhere, he was hit. Barely keeping his balance, he felt something cold and wet running down his shirt.

Quickly turning, he saw a self-satisfied, smirking Karin pushing together another ball of snow. She looked up at him and they made eye contact, and he could see the challenge in her eyes.

Then he was hit with another one and really did fall over.

The cold did not bother him but the wet part was really starting to get annoying. Karin looked to be quickly trying to put together another snowball, but Toshiro refused to get hit again.

"You picked to wrong person to play this game with." He whispered, sending a bit of his reiatsu above her and creating a ball of snow the size of her head. While snow was harder for him to create than ice it was still well within his capabilities in small amounts.

Karin jumped a little when the snow came down on her head and she turned to her boyfriend with a flabbergasted expression, almost as if she had not believed he would join her in her fun.

She noticed his reiatsu mixed in with the snow covering her and glared at him.

"Oh that is all kinds of unfair."

"You started it." He said back, surprising even himself at the fact that _he_ was using such a childish excuse. Karin seemed to take that as an open invitation and immediately unbuckled her self from the snowboard.

Realizing he would be at a huge strategic disadvantage if he did not Toshiro rushed to do the same. Karin, finishing first, threw another snowball that, this time, hit him in the eyes and temporarily removed is vision.

Despite that, Toshiro was able to escape his snowboard and back off, wiping the water off his face as he went. The slope was practically empty at the moment, so the two of them felt like they could reveal a bit more of their true capabilities.

That; or Karin just did not feel like playing pretend anymore and Toshiro was willing to join her.

Soon, a massive snowball war had broken out, with Toshiro having built a glorious, decorated snow fort- with dragon ice sculptures, obviously- and Karin having used her power to remove the snow between then, creating a canyon that acted as a bit of a divider.

Karin aimed several snowballs, but none of them were able to get past the fort Toshiro had created. Scowling for a moment, Karin then decided to test it's limits.

Within a minute a rain of snowballs was assaulting Toshiro's fort in a desperate attempt to make it break. Karin allowed a bit more of her soul's strength to show in her gigai and began to run around and create snowballs at impossible - for a human- speeds.

"Remember, you can't use your powers anywhere over the line!" She yelled out, smiling when Toshiro's "okay" was mostly drowned out by her storm of terror.

Well, not that it terrified _Toshiro_ , but Kairn prefered thinking of it that way.

The lack of progress Karin was making on destroying the snow fort frustrated her, but then an idea- an idea Toshiro would call dangerous, suicidal (though they're already dead) and risky but that is beside the point- came to her and she decided to see if it would work.

Karin abruptly stopped her snowballs throwing and ran in the opposite direction. Toshiro, curious, leaned out from behind his fort with one eyebrow raised in hopes of seeing what Karin was trying to do.

For a brief second, a flash of worry coursed through him as he wondered if what she was going to try to do could lead to her getting hurt. He squashed that thought a second later, trying to reassure himself that she would know better than to use enough force to possibly put himself in danger.

Though it is kinda hard to reassure _yourself_ when you, yourself, know that you are lying.

A loud **_crack_** echoed through the mountains as a wave or reiatsu pressed down on everyone nearby for a fraction of a second. Karin had probably done her long distance attack that resembled her family's 'Getsuga Tensho'.

Though what she used it for was a mystery until Toshiro squinted his eyes and saw a wave of snow heading their way. It was from the side no one used as a slope and Toshiro and Karin could both feel there were no living creatures on the path between them.

That thought did not help Toshiro with the fact that dozens of gallons of snow were headed this way, likely due to Karin hitting it off a taller cliff. Honestly, with the risks involving civilian witnesses and general destruction he hadn't considered her doing this as a possibility.

Looking back on it, she probably had expected him to have that mindset.

Toshiro kneeled down, hoping to be able to dodge at the last second. When it got closer he could see that Karin was… snowboarding on it. She had picked up her board and using her powers to make a reishi platform whenever she started to fall.

For a brief second Toshiro was about to begin barking orders to stop at her, but then he stopped. They were on vacation, not at work. The point of their being there was only to relax, if this helped why stop her.

So instead Toshiro gave a large sigh, not completely understanding why he had chosen to do this, and ran to pick up his own snowboard. The more logical part of his mind felt like this was a bad idea and the emotional side seemed to agree,- even if some might say the ice captain had no emotions- but Toshiro allowed a rare moment of what Karin would simply describe as 'fun' to overrule that.

He came to have fun with Karin because he liked her. Somehow that emotion was able to overpower the embarrassment and nervousness and all the other emotions telling him this was a bad idea.

In. Out. He took a deep breath to center himself, then used shunpo to appear above the snow wave and dropped down next to Karin. She was startled by him at first, but soon accepted it and began to copy his movements as they tumbled down the mountain.

There was not enough snow to last, so soon they were back on the normal mountain runs again, though Karin's expression was now one ofcomplete joy.

"...I can't believe I did that…" Toshiro whispered, almost exasperated with his own actions. Karin's smile grew, glad that she was able to help her boyfriend finally relax.

"We're still technically kids in the eyes of Soul Society-"

"Soul Society doesn't have any laws that allow minors off easy. The _law_ of Soul Society recognizes us as adults, especially given the positions that we work."

"Sure, but the people in Soul Society tend to recognize us as kids. You might as well act like one when no one's around, even if you refuse to do that when we're in public."

Toshiro had to admit she had a bit of a point and decided to say nothing. It was pointless, meaningless, dangerous and accomplished nothing. The only upside was that he and Karin had… fun.

"If you keep living life the way you are now you'll never be happy." Karin lectured him- which was odd, he was rarely the one who got the lecture- and began to unstrap herself from her board.

"And what if you got the attention of the mortal governments. Surely they would notice a bit of snow randomly starting to fall?"

"Don't worry about that, I used an area that was about to fall within the next month at most and just gave it and extra push. I'm pretty sure the park left it because it would have fallen in a direction no one ever goes to, but I decided to slightly alter that direction so it would be sent toward you. The most they would be confused about is why their prediction of where it was going to fall was wrong, not two people who decided to snowboard on it."

After spending several seconds thinking over that information, Toshiro conceded and decided that she probably used enough measures to keep it from developing into too big a problem.

Not that the government would be able to find anything anyway. Any possible files a world government had on the two of them would make no sense; Karin did not look 25 and Toshiro _definitely_ did not look 100 + years old. There was nothing the governments could really do to the two of them anyway, they just wipe memories or leave their gigais and no one in the human world could stop them.

Sometimes, Toshiro wondered if this was a bit of what Kanna and Takahiro had been so mad about. Soul Society had all the power to do anything it wanted to, but it never made an attempt to fix the human world or the ryukongai.

The human world was understandable, telling people about the afterlife before they died was a recipe for disaster, especially with how dedicated many were to their religions. But the ryukongai…

The only reason more was not being done for that was because many shinigami were used to the way things worked. They would get up in the morning and go to hunt hollows or fill out paperwork. No reason to change that schedule just based on a few bad memories from their childhood growing up in a bad town. They were busy enough already. In fact, the only reason work had started to be done on the ryukongai was because of a combined effort between Ichigo Kurosaki (and company, as always), Kuchiki Rukia, Abarai Renji, Kyoraku and Toshiro. Most of the other captains were either indifferent or too busy to spend much time helping.

Toshiro supposed it was lucky that the Central Forty-Six was too terrified of Ichigo to simply write off any suggestion he made. Though it did make him wonder what would have happened if Ichigo had not been there to kick start the whole project and give Toshiro enough time to gain political knowledge to support him.

As far as he could tell; nothing. Nothing would have changed or been done.

If that happened… would Kanna and Takahiro be on the morally right side of this conflict?

His train of thought was abruptly cut off when he felt a snowball crash into the side of his face. Startled, he immediately jumped to his feet to eliminate the threat, but all he saw was Karin calmly sit down beside him.

"You're thinking again." She told him, and before he could snap back with a sarcastic retort, she continued. "We have a lot of things to think over, so that's fine. Just make sure you don't start getting depressed or doubting yourself because of it, that's when you know you're thinking too much."

"Isn't the point of thinking things over to make sure you're doing the right thing? Why is doubting myself suddenly such a big deal?" He asked as he wiped some snow from his face.

"Because we made our decision and now I'm sticking to it!" It was not a yell, but with all the conviction thrown in it might as well have been. Karin was glaring, her thoughts lighting a bit of a fire in her body, and Toshiro could see she had clenched her fists.

Ah, so this was just as much advice to her as it was to him.

Hesitating for a moment, he reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a little squeeze. "Let's just head back to the lodge, okay?"

Karin glanced back, suspicion clear on her face, then, seemingly realizing what Toshiro was doing, agreed with a simple nod of the head. Toshiro's teal eyes turned to their surroundings as he gazed with disinterest at the surrounding area behind them.

The snow was creating a white covering that was decorated with footprints of all sizes. Around some of the larger trees was a hole, created by the melted snow around the trees. It was almost relaxing to see the flat, unmoving surface and general _quiet_ that was in the area.

The piercing, animalistic roar of a hollow resounded through the resort.

Toshiro and Karin instantly moved faster than human eyes could track and stood back to back, crouched and ready to attack or defend at a moment's notice. None of the few surrounding civilians had high enough spiritual energy to hear the hollow, so they continued what they had been doing without a care in the world.

While better than outright panic, it did cause there to be several areas Toshiro and Karin would need to defend if a fight did break out.

Toshiro, being the better at sensing spiritual pressures between the two, sent his senses out until he found the only things that could have made the sound he was so used to hearing; five hollows had swarmed together and were chasing after several souls.

"Do we interfere?" Karin asked, causing Toshiro to nod a steady affirmative. There was no telling how long it would take the shinigami stationed in this area to arrive, especially considering it was not Japan. When outside of the spiritual hotspot shinigami tended to be spread relatively far and wide. He made eye contact with Karin and saw her concentration, then disappeared in a rapid shunpo, confident in her abilities to catch up to him.

Based on the number of hollows, it was likely one of them was a higher leveled one controlling the others and coordinating- at least, as much as a hollow could- their attack. When Toshiro stopped, he could see his suspicions confirmed by the sight in front of him.

The only up-side was that even the higher-level hollow was still a long way from becoming an arrancar.

"Karin, we each take out two lower hollows and then we'll work together for the higher one. Try not to release your zanpakuto, I don't know if the people living here could handle such a sudden increase in spiritual pressure," Toshiro commanded as he exited his gigai and saw Karin do the same. "And don't forget you're still healing and on leave… be careful."

"I know, you too!" Karin called right before she vanished to do her part. Toshiro shook his thoughts clear and went to go attack the hollows on his side who were gaining on an innocent soul.

* * *

An attack from one hollow completely destroyed the trees a civilian soul was using to protect itself. Faced with the sudden realization that their protection had been completely uprooted without resistance, the soul did little more than give a terrified yell before the monster that he was sure would end his oh-so-short afterlife.

At least, until Karin appeared directly in between him and the hollow and defended against the hollow's incoming attack. As she pushed the attack back, Karin felt a sharp pain in her chest and clicked her teeth in annoyance. Even a weak hollow like this was a challenge for her in her current state.

Well, challenge might not be the right word.

Powered slightly by her annoyance, Karin sent several perfectly-executed slices to the hollow's arm and finally ended with severing it completely. The hollow roared in pain and backed off to safety, its natural survival instincts taking over for the time being.

Karin raised her zanpakuto before the hollow and took a deep breath. Other than her injuries, the fact that she could not release her sword was a bit of a limitation. Luckily, there was more seperating a third seat from a new shinigami than just their ability to release their zanpakuto. No way would she lose in a sword fight to a hollow of this level.

The second hollow she was after then moved, leaving Karin only barely enough time to move the soul behind her to safety. She mentally berated herself for becoming overconfident for a second, especially considering the handicap of her injury.

In a quick flash of silver Karin sent an attack to the ground which created a miniature earthquake and made the hollows once again back off, if only temporarily.

Without wasting a second Karin sent the soul- who was now staring at her with an unreasonable amount of worship- to safety and continued fighting the two hollows.

One of them attacked and she easily dodged, ducking underneath and moving in close, before she sent a powerful attack upwards from her position underneath it. The mask instantly shattered.

The second hollow, now increasingly wary of her after the death of the first, began to back off and attempt to gain distance. Before it could, Karin moved above it and attacked down, much more aggressive now that she did not need to worry about an attack.

Turning her head, Karin saw that Toshiro had already dealt with the two he went after and was currently in battle with the boss. She could tell he was focusing a large amount of energy keeping his reiatsu from affecting the surrounding physical area.

And, you know, killing everyone in a hundred meter radius through frostbite.

As they were on a vacation (1) they did not have Soul Society to keep their reiatsu from affecting the world of the living and changing any memories they needed to. That, unfortunately, made fighting much more difficult than it would otherwise be.

Karin quickly drew closer and joined the fight, ignoring the slight pain still present in her chest. As she aimed an attack at the hollow's leg Toshiro gave it a large wound across its arm, rendering it immobile. Without hesitating for a second Toshiro appeared above it and sliced the mask cleanly in two.

"Show off," Karin teased and smirked as Toshiro rolled his eyes. He gave her his usual unimpressed look, but Karin's experience with seeing that look allowed her to spot the hint of amusement in his eyes.

In the next instant they were surrounded, three shinigami forming a triangle and seemingly trying to decide whether to fight them or protect them. Karin correctly assumed they were confused about some shinigami they had never met before being in their assigned area.

Finally one of the shinigami decided that with the recent report of traitors it was best to play it safe and yelled, "Who are you?!"

"Captain of Squad Ten, Hitsugaya Toshiro," said person calmly stated in his usual 'work voice'. Karin held herself back from teasing him about it and continued in the same tone of voice.

"And Kurosaki Karin, third seat of Squad Ten. We were allowed a leave of absence to the world of the living by the Captain Commander."

Her words seemed to spark a memory in the shinigami as their eyes briefly showed confusion, then recognition, then surprise and awe, and finally embarrassment.

"We are very sorry Hitsugaya Taicho!" They yelled, snapping to attention. This time, Karin could not help breaking her calm mask and rolling her eyes.

She saw the soul she had saved peak out from behind a tree along with the soul she knew Toshiro had saved just a moment ago. The shinigami continued to prattle on apologies and "I'm-so-sorry-taicho-we-should-have-recognized- you- right- away- we- will- do- anything- to- make- it- up" until Karin gave a long, tired sigh and made eye contact with Toshiro.

So much for a work free vacation.

* * *

1) Yeah, okay, so I completely made that up. Don't quote me on this, don't think that's how it actually works. It might work that way, but I don't think it does. I honestly don't remember. I'm pretty sure in the original they just didn't care about the destruction they caused in their battles because Ichigo kept tearing up the landscape of Karakura whenever he fought Grimmjow or any other hollows that appeared. I could be wrong though, who knows.


	26. Chapter 26

At first, Karin thought the constant apologies were a little amusing. Toshiro did not agree, but since they did little more than make everyone a bit uncomfortable he had no problems with it. At least it proved he had no need to earn their respect due to his appearance.

But then, as time went on, it quickly became apparent that the shinigami were going to be able to continue talking until the world ended or another hollow showed up. It was then that Toshiro decided they were never going to be able to get their work done and go back to their vacation if he did not end this soon.

"-and obviously we do know who you are, I'm so sorry again, I have no idea why we didn't recognize you, you have such distinctive features we should have known right away-"

"Apology accepted." Toshiro interrupted, surprising Karin slightly. She had thought _she_ would be the one to snap and lose patience first. "Perhaps we should begin on the konsos, I don't want to keep those souls here forever, it will only attract more hollows."

The shinigami turned to the souls who had, by now, stopped hiding behind the trees. Judging by the looks of surprise on their faces Karin assumed they had completely forgotten they were there.

Though, Karin supposed she should be grateful. These people were at least better than that one shinigami who had been assigned to Karakura for a while after Rukia was saved. He was even more incompetent and _he_ was sent to the spiritual hotspot of the world.

The group made there way over to the souls and the two shinigami began to explain what a konso was and their job as shinigami. The souls looked a bit too excited about the whole thing, so Toshiro made sure to interrupt and give them a more realistic view.

"Yes, you might be able to find your dead family members but it will be tricky. Soul Society is very large and it's difficult to get transportation through the area. While it is the afterlife it is far from perfect. You won't need to eat or drink," he explained after a quick glance at their spiritual pressure, "but some of the worst areas in Soul Society have people who do. They might try to steal food from you in order to survive. I wouldn't get your hopes up about any of this."

Quickly, the hopeful looks which had been on their faces vanished and changed into looks of despair. They glanced to where the hollows had been with expressions that clearly said they were wondering if getting their souls destroyed would have been the better option.

Well, that was not good. Better keep them from becoming suicidal. "But the good news is that we're working on making it better. Currently the production of roads and jobs is being attempted so you shouldn't need to worry about that forever. And besides, like Shiro said, you don't need to eat or drink. You'll be able to live while working only for shelter, and even then there's a low property tax depending on where you go."

Karin's explanation seemed to brighten their spirits slightly, so she stepped back and allowed the shinigami in charge of the area to send them over.

"Umm…" the soul Karin saved suddenly got everyone's attention, "What's your name?" He made eye contact with Karin as he asked, leaving no doubt as to who he was speaking to. For a brief second Karin was confused to why he would ask her, but she decided it was the least she could do. He probably wanted to get more information on the way she saved him earlier using her name.

Toshiro was pretty sure he had a crush on Karin, but as he felt like he would never lose her he did nothing more than glare at the boy- terrifying him, honestly, Toshiro's glares are _scary_ \- until Karin answered the question.

"I'm Karin Kurosaki. Though by the time you find me I might be Karin Hitsugaya, so I wouldn't count on that name." Toshiro blushed slightly and calmed down, feeling slightly silly for glaring.

The soul looked between the two of them and seemed to understand what had just happened. It scowled slightly, but then nodded in acceptance, having known Karin for less than half-an-hour in total.

"Off you go then," Karin declared as the stationed shinigami sent the soul on to its next life. She smiled and sent them a slight wave that mostly consisted of raising her hand in the air and letting it fall back down. Toshiro stepped forward and got the attention of the stationed shinigami.

"This is Squad Five's territory, correct?"

"Yes, Captain! We serve under Hirako-taichou at the current moment! Sir!" Karin rolled her eyes at their completely genuine antics and sent Toshiro a questioning look.

He explained, "We should probably send a report to that division about the hollows. They weren't anything special, but we should try to confront this matter in the same way we would if a member from our division killed a hollow here. I can just hand the papers to Momo, but a written explanation in the form of a report is probably required. That, of course, means w-"

"-We'll have to do a bunch of paperwork…" Karin interjected with a groan. She hated the stuff. In fact, she was ninety percent positive the only one who even remotely _liked_ paperwork was Toshiro.

"...I was going to say 'we should probably get started on this now and then we can go back to snowboarding', but that works too." Karin glared at Toshiro's raised eyebrows and otherwise blank face.

"I hate you sometimes."

"Do you?"

"Strike that, all the time."

"Of course." Despite him not saying the words in a remotely sarcastic manner, Karin felt like she could physically feel the sarcasm rolling off him as he spoke.

Toshiro turned to the shinigami- who were still watching them in the same way they would a god, which was silly considering they were just military superiors- and nodded once to them.

"We apologize for disrupting your work. I will make sure our reports are delivered when we come back, so you can mention that when you write your report on today. Thank you for your time." Karin stopped herself from rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's suffocating wave of politeness, if only because she wanted to get out of the situation faster. The other shinigami all looked towards each other and then something seemingly registered in their minds.

"No, no, no, no no. You are more than welcome, you weren't wasting are time!"

"Right, we'll be sure to do that, thank you so much for your help!"

"You don't need to apologize for that, you didn't disturb our work!"

It was a bit hard to make out what they were saying because they all said it at exactly the same time while doing ninety- degree bows. This time Karin sighed slightly, but was at least able to make it quiet enough that they all could not hear her.

"Well, we'll be going then. It was nice meeting all of you." Karin quickly stated and practically pulled Toshiro along as she hurried away from the small crowd behind them.

Once she was several yards away she glanced up at Toshiro with a grimace. "The hell has Hirako done to them to make them react to us in such a stupid way?"

"I doubt it was anything he's done other than not see them very often because he's swamped with work. It seems all the lower ranked shinigami react in similar ways."

"Let's just go back, I don't want to keep talking about this." Karin let go of Toshiro and in two simultaneous flashes of shunpo the couple was gone.

* * *

"I literally can't believe you brought all this stuff with you," Karin said as she gazed down at the materials- honestly, it was easiest just to refer to them as paperworking stuff- on Toshiro's desk. "You even brought a stamp for approval, who does that!?"

"I'm not doing your work for you so I suggest you get started instead of asking questions." Toshiro told her in his usual apathetic manner. Karin rolled her eyes and poked his cheek, succeeding in making him finally set his pen and turn to give her his full attention.

"Isn't someone grumpy today? This is our _vacation_ , Shiro. Try to be a bit less… _this_." As she spoke, Karin made a large sweeping motion around him with one of her hands. The sarcasm, raised eyebrow and smirk mad her fairly difficult to continue to ignore.

Luckily- or unluckily- for him, Toshiro was a master in that regard after knowing Matsumoto. The only part which made him falter was the logical aspect of her argument.

Well, it was nothing he could not handle.

Toshiro continued to look through papers and his soul phone to make sure he got all of his information right before he started on the mission report. It did not have to look great, only being sent from Captain to Captain, but Toshiro's inner perfectionist scoffed at the idea of doing anything less than he could.

Deciding he was right about having work to do, Karin also began looking through a few websites to make sure the locations she would mention were accurate.

Though, only after promising herself to start bullying him into having more fun later. It reminded her of a phrase she had heard before. Do not hit a sleeping tiger? Do not poke a sleeping monster? No, if she remembered correctly, the phrase was centered around a dragon.

Huh, an accurate metaphor for Toshiro then.

Karin gazed over the different facts she would need, making sure she had memorized them, and started on her letter. Luckily for her, being so close to all of the higher-ranked shinigami meant she had a bit less pressure than most others when it came to writing these kind of things.

Though Toshiro would probably want to read over her's too, so maybe she should avoid being _too_ friendly. A pity, she was kind of curious if she would be able to get Hirako to snap despite how confident and humorous he usually was. There is always next time, she supposed.

The letter she ended up writing was only about a page (front and back) long, but it covered all the information they could possibly want so Karin thought she had made it more than long enough. She glanced over slightly to see what Toshiro had created.

Even on first sight, she decided that answer was simple; a monster.

The letter he was writing went on and on and on and on for four pages (front and back). She knew for a fact that not much could actually be said about what happened, what could he have filled tos pages up with. She also had spent a while editing her letter, and it looked like Toshiro had not even started that.

Maybe it was time to poke the paperwork-obsessed dragon.

"What could possibly be filling up that letter Shiro?" She asked and stood up, walking over to him. "I know for a fact we didn't do eight pages worth of stuff earlier today."

He ignored her. He probably had slipped into that zone he usually did while doing paperwork that made him (mostly) resistant to Matsumoto's distractions and requests.

Karin knelt down beside him and looked up at the expression of intense concentration on his face. She knew if she moved to attack him he would be able to defend in time to spare, but it did not seem exciting enough.

"Well," she muttered to herself as she stared up at her boyfriend, "Why don't we see how he'll react to something like that? I doubt Matsumoto's ever tried to get his attention this way."

Carefully, so as not to startle him, Karin stood behind him as he looked down over the desk in front of him. Then, when it became obvious he was not consciously aware of where she was standing, she leaned forward and bit his ear.

He jumped and ended up standing on the desk facing her. While it had not been anything original or a hilarious prank Karin felt seeing the blush covering his cheeks made it completely worth it.

For all that Matsumoto joked around and shoved her chest in Toshiro's face, she still respected him enough to know there were boundaries she would not cross.

Karin, on the other hand, had no such limitations.

Toshiro seemed to be slightly shell-shocked and unable to speak, simple standing with his mouth slightly open and trying to form a coherent sentence. He looked adorable, but Karin took pity on him and decided to explain.

"You were ignoring me."

Because that _definitely_ made everything clear.

It did, however, seem to be enough to wake Toshiro up from the state he was in and allow him to form an actual coherent sentence after a bit more stuttering.

"I-you, that… are you really _that_ bored?"

Karin considered his question for a moment and then looked up at him and nodded. "I finished what I needed to write and added a few extra things I wanted to. You haven't even had time to read over the eight-ish pages you wrote and I don't like it when you ignore me."

Toshiro gave a small sigh and made eye contact with her, "Sorry, Matsumoto just left me with the habit of ignoring people who do things like that and only look up to register what's happening if it seems to be an emergency. I've gotten a lot of practice with it now so it seems it's just second nature."

Karin smirked, "Except for the last thing?"

"...Yes, except for that. I still can't believe you thought that was a good idea. What would you have done if I had responded with an attack because it was so unexpected?"

"Okay, one, you are great at sensing and recognizing reiatsu so you would be able to tell it's mine anyways. Two, I could totally take you, especially if I caught you off guard like this."

Toshiro lifted his eyebrows at her, but saw no point in arguing over something he considered to be both stupid and pointless. With another sigh that seemed to be more of affection than anything else, he hopped down from the table and walked over to Karin to give her a kiss.

Of all the reactions she was waiting for and expecting, _that_ was definitely not one of them. This time it was Karin who blushed- though thankfully did not start stuttering-looking surprisingly similar to how Toshiro had looked less than a minute ago.

"There, happy now?" he asked, though his mostly-calm expression and lifted eyebrow could not hide the faint dust of blush on his cheeks. Nor the lava lamp of blush on Karin's that she was desperately trying to make disappear.

After taking a few deep breaths Karin was pretty sure her cheeks were about their normal color and she felt she was capable of answering his question.

"I… am. Thanks…" Toshiro blinked at how unaggressive it was compared to what he had expected- especially since she was the one who started it- but just smiled at her and turned back to his paperwork.

"If you get really bored again you might as well make yourself useful and read over what I wrote." He suggested, though there was still a small smile on his face from earlier.

Karin momentarily considered how much more comfortable he must be if he was already willing to tease her right back when, at the beginning of their relationship and before, he would have blushed and tried to leave or gotten defensively angry at her.

Slowly, she raised a hand to her cheek, as if making sure the blush was gone and gave a small smile.

It was a nice change.

* * *

Toshiro felt the crisp chill in the air and took in a deep breath. He ignored the people around him who were staring at his thin winter coat- that was still just think enough to make him too hot anyways- and normal slacks with curious eyes. One child even continued staring as she walked past, not knowing how to be even remotely subtle about her curiosity. He was not really all that weird, but when someone comes out looking like the polar opposite of everyone else because of what they're wearing they tend to draw attention.

As the door opened he turned slightly and saw Karin, who was dressed somewhere between his it's-a-pleasant-spring-day outfit and everyone else's five-foot-thick clothes armor. She had her hair up in her usual ponytail and a somewhat thick jacked over a shirt he could not see because of the teal-blue scarf she had on. Now that he looked closer the colors were… oddly reminiscent of him.

"Did you pick those clothes so you would match me or is it just a coincidence?"

At his question Karin glanced down at what she was wearing and, to his surprise, glared at it like it was an annoying hollow she was against or some jewelry her sister forced her to wear.

"It's Matsumoto. She made me dress up in clothes that match you and I can't really say anything because I was too lazy to do the shopping and packing myself."

He smiled slightly as they began walking down the street. "While we're waiting at the restaurant I was thinking I would call Matsumoto and tell her what happened with the hollows earlier. Would you mind?"

"Nah. Besides, it's not like you're choosing work over me. We both have that job and are _both_ the reason you need to call her. It'd be kinda silly for me to mind."

Toshiro tilted his head slightly to show he conceded to her point. The pair continued walking together until they reached the restaurant and the waiters brought them to their table.

"I'll be right back then," he said to Karin as he stood up to go behind the building, receiving a simple nod in return. At times like this he was glad the soul phone could get connection anywhere on the planet. Though even shinigami could not take a visit to the planet's core without being one of the strongest (who all had better things to do), so there might be somewhere on the planet they would not work.

Not that you could use a soul phone when at a planet's center in the first place.

Matsumoto did not take long to pick up the call, not that she was every expected to. She was, however, expected by Toshiro to treat him formaley when the call was work related.

It goes without saying that Toshiro's expectations did not go exactly the way he imagined them going.

"HIIIIIIIII TAICHO!" Toshiro flinched slightly and moved the phone farther away from his ear. "How have you been? It's been forever-"

"It's been a few days, Matsumoto."

"Like I said, forever! Anyways, what's the call about? Did you find out the world is about to end and you, Ichigo, Orihime and Karin are going to work together to save it again?"

For a moment Toshiro was silent, thinking over the reason behind her apparent confusion. Then, with a slight sigh, he understood what the problem was.

"...Did you even glance at the pile of paperwork on your desk?"

"Of course not, we-" "I" "- already did all the work so I didn't see any reason to look it over. Besides I've been super busy training the new recruits how to do the office jobs here and spending time with Hisagi. Why would I have looked it over? There's nothing I need to worry about, right?"

"Matsumoto, I did the paperwork regarding leaves of absence and mission approvals for this week early, there's nothing I can do to make the mission reports and files regarding injuries be finished early. Why haven't you at least _glanced_ at the before now!?"

His voice steadily rose in volume as he talked, his anger getting the best of him for the first time in a while. Karin helped him not lose control of his emotions and freeze everyone when he got annoyed like he used to, but at heart he still had the same personality when angered.

"I was busy…." Matsumoto whined, but trailed off at the end as if to acknowledge that even _she_ was aware her excuse would never hold up.

"Really? Busy? Doing what, might I ask?" She was completely right.

"Oh, you know… stuff. I need to spend time with my friends too. Me and Hisagi and Kira and Renji always hang out together and-" She suddenly cut off what she was about to say, leaving Toshiro to guess what she meant by her words (or lack of them).

"And drinking?"

"Well…"

Toshiro sighed, the conversation, as fun as it was, would not get them anywhere. "Matsumoto, if you had looked at what you were supposed to you would know that earlier today Karin and I were in a confrontation with a trio of hollows while on vacation."

Though he could not see her, Toshiro knew Matsumoto had instantly straightened up and given the phone call her full attention.

"Are the two of you alright?"

"We're fine. Karin's chest is bothering her because she had to fight while not fully healed but they weren't powerful enough to garner any concern. The main problem was just that we couldn't use too much power or release our swords while there. No crew to hold back the power and keep it from impacting the world."

"Though your power would probably fit right in to the state of the world around you, taicho." Her words were meant to be teasing, but Toshiro could easily pick out the relief in them.

"Any new information about the rebels at the moment?" 'Or, specifically, Kanna and Takahiro?' was heard despite the silence of the words.

"Nothing important, just some leads that turned out to go nowhere. Sorry, taicho."

"Hmm," was the only response Toshiro gave to that information. Easier to distance himself and pretend like that was all he was hoping for or expected.

"You know, me and Karin are still here for you taicho."

A brief flicker of shock made Toshiro pause before it developed into a small smile. "I know, don't worry."

"Good!" Matsumoto said, sounding much more like her usual personality now that the heavy topic was over and done with. The joy and slight slur to her voice could not completely cover the alertness still present in her tone.

"That's all I wanted to say," he began, his voice shifting out of the 'captain's voice' he so often heard Karin mocking him for, "Do try to at least look over at the work you're supposed to be doing."

"Okay taicho~!" Matsumoto called, but her tone made it clear to him that she would not be even going as far as _considering_ doing what he told her to. Well, there was a reason he called her instead of relying on her to see it and call him about it.

"I'll tell you more about what happened when I get back."

"Sure, tell Karin 'hi' for me, 'kay?"

"Fine."

He shut off the call and tucked away his phone, heading back in the restaurant to meet with Karin at their table. The severs, seeing he had come back, brought him the menu and waited patiently.

"Anything interesting?" Karin wondered allowed, glancing up at him to make eye contact.

"No, but Matsumoto says 'hi'. She also hasn't even glanced at the pile of work that's undoubtedly forming on my desk right now."

"Don't worry so much about it, I'll help you finish. So? Anything else?"

Toshiro glanced around slightly, took in the nearby reiatsu signatures and casually leaned closer, dropping his voice. "No, our leads have made us run around in circles and no new information has come. It seems like everyone's pretty tense with all that's happening."

"You'd think they'd be used to it after the amount that happened when my brother was around."

Toshiro smiled slightly, realizing she actually had a point. "I suppose so, but with your brother off preparing for negotiations with the hollows I doubt there was anything they could do. A bit hard to get Soul Society to work when it's hero isn't around."

The mocking amusement in his tone told many different stories behind it. One where the power of central forty-six got to it's head in the form of Aizen, one where the second division unquestionably carried out assassination orders for no reason other than having two of the same zanpakuto (1), one where Momo was left unsupervised and was somehow able to come to the world of the living during the fight with Aizen.

For all that Toshiro was loyal to Soul Society, it had nothing to do with the philosophy present in the government's past actions.

Karin frowned as she saw the look on Toshiro's face and guessed what his thoughts were about. This was not the right place to be worrying about such things, especially since they were on vacation.

"But enough about that, let's just enjoy ourselves. We don't get to share many romantic dinners together."

Toshiro's teal eyes made contact with her gray ones and they shared a smile.

"You're right, sorry."

* * *

1) This is just a mention of the Diamond Dust Rebellion Movie. Not important for my story in the long run. I don't even know it's for sure right so don't quote me on this.


	27. Chapter 27

"Hey, Shiro, look what I found," Karin called out as they were taking off their clothes after another day of snowboarding. She handed him a paper which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a flier to get groups to join in on a snowman making contest. Toshiro glanced up at her.

"No, Karin. That would be completely unfair. Even if I don't use my power's purposefully I'll still unconsciously lower the temperature and keep our snowman from melting. Besides, I won't react to the cold so I won't need to use thick gloves that make it harder to be exact."

"While those are all extremely logical reasons I still want to try it out," Karin shoved the flier his way and made him hold onto it. "Besides, it's not like we could actually use the prize money they're offering, we can just donate it to a charity or something."

"Karin-"

"I don't care about the logic behind this decision, I'm going to act based on my emotions and try to get you to be a team with me. I've never done anything like it before, it could be fun."

Toshiro glanced down at the flier in his hands and back up at is girlfriend. Sure, there was not much reason to avoid it other than the fact it would be unfair to the other contestants, but Toshiro would still feel bad about it. He hated feeling like the cheater everyone accused him of being in his early days at the shinigami academy.

Then again, he might have to reconsider. If he concentrated a little he could try to replicate the effect of not melting on everyone's snowmen. That would even the playing field a little.

Besides, there was another question for him to consider. Would he feel worse about taking part in a contest like this or making Karin upset that he did not.

The answer was obvious.

"Done with your thinking?" Karin asked, having correctly read his body language and personality. He saw her raised eyebrow and curious expression, though there was a flash of hope in there too.

"Yes," he gave her one of his rare, small but genuine smiles. "Let's do it."

She pulled him in for a kiss in her excitement. When they broke it off she looked him straight in the eyes and seemed to know what the deciding factor was for him.

Thank you.

He nodded once and her smile only grew.

* * *

"Lots of people here, huh." She was right, the area was crowded with various groups and pairs of people, making Karin briefly wonder if there would be enough snow for everyone to make what they wanted.

"Do you know how big the groups can be?" Toshiro asked and Karin shook her head. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the flier of information.

"It says, minimum of two, maximum of five."

"Then I would assume most of these people are in groups of five, making there appear to be many. We're actually at a slight disadvantage because of that. I doubt many people would make the same choice if they actually want to win this game."

"See, you were worrying too much. We're not going to be so far beyond everyone else that we tower over them. It'll be an almost even playing field."

"Except we also won't get tired and have to take breaks."

"You've done a lot of thinking about this." The casual observations had a spark of amusement and familiarity mixed in, as if she would have been shocked if he did anything else.

"One of us had to."

Karin rolled her eyes at the last comment, turning her attention somewhat back to the announcers. She wondered what the other members of the tenth division- barring Matsumoto- would do if they knew their captain could be clever and sarcastic when he was not religiously dedication himself to his position.

The announcer cleared his throat and Karin ended her train of thought. He briefly explained the rules that Karin was 50% sure any five-year-old would be able to guess. Do not sabotage the creations of others, only use snow you can find here, do not use tools other than gloves, decorations and your body, please get your decorations approved by the judges before adding them on…

It would not have been so bad if he could avoid dragging on and on. Like, everyone could understand the rules, he did not need to mention them again and again for clarification.

"Annoyed?" Toshiro leaned closer and asked her, having watched her body language slowly shift over the course of the long, dull speech.

"And you're not? Your speeches are a _hundred times_ more interesting than this. How can you still look like you're actually paying attention and understanding what they're saying?" She asked the last part because a quick glance around showed her that everyone present was slowly falling asleep from the commentators voice. Even the judges were beginning to blink and force their eyes open.

"It's at least more interesting than an argument between Kurotsuchi and Kenpachi. Besides, while the previous Captain Commander was capable of many, many things, making the meetings interesting was not one of them."

Making sure to still listen to the rules with one ear, Karin continued to talk to Toshiro by saying, "Why are their arguments boring. I'm pretty sure no one else would describe Kenpachi or Kurotsuchi that way and Kurotsuchi should at least be intelligent enough to add some good point into his debate."

"Actually, it almost entirely consists of them yelling at each other from across the table. They never have anything new to say either, it's just the same insults as always. That tends to get old pretty quickly."

Karin hummed in understanding. While she had never been to a Captain's meeting (only Lieutenants and Captains could go) she had heard a lot about it from Matsumoto.

Well, that was more a drunk Matsumoto whining and complaining to her about the "stupid worse Kisuke" who would always "pointlessly argue with the dangerous loud guy" and hurt her ears. Still, Karin thought she had a pretty good idea of what the Captain's meetings were like.

"Oh, he's finally wrapping up." Toshiro's statement caused Karin to look over and she saw that he was right, the commentator was finishing up his speech and the listeners were starting to wake up. Karin waited to hear the countdown.

"On your mark, get ready, _start_!"

Like everyone else Karin and Toshiro burst into a run to get to their station, though only going at a fraction of their usual speed. They landed in front of the area they had pre chosen and began building what they had previously decided they wanted to make.

A snow dragon.

"Symbolic," Karin had sarcastically said when the idea was first suggested.

The two of them knelt down and began to work. For several minutes neither of them said anything, too lost in their goals. Finally, Toshiro looked up at her and the act made Karin pause in her work.

"So, how do you feel? Do you think this 'vacation' has allowed you to get back to normal and rest. You seem like you're fine to me, but what does it seem like to you?"

Karin glanced down at her work and continued as she thought about the question. As she began piling snow for the head she finally answered.

"Yeah. This… this was good. I'm happy here, and some small part of me doesn't want to go back to the responsibility and feeling of betrayal, but a larger part of me knows I have to. I'm fine, this was good."

Toshiro smiled as he continued to work on the tail, making it longer and longer as time went on. "I think we're heading back tomorrow night, just got a call from Soul Society this morning."

"That's fine," Karin decided after a moment's pause. "I've gotten enough, I'm starting to become restless. I should get back to work now."

There was a moment where neither of them moved, then both looked up and made eye contact, trying to see the genuine emotions in the other. When Karin looked into Toshiro's teal eyes she saw nothing but apprehension, dedication, love and a feeling of responsibility. With that, she knew he had meant everything he said when he had asked her and understood her point of view. As Toshiro looked into Karin's gray eyes he saw resolute determination, a wave of disappointment overshadowed by responsibility and love. From this, he knew she had meant what she said and would not regret going back to work.

The exchange only lasted a second, but it caused both of them to relax and lifted their spirits. They went back to working on their snow-dragon without another word spoken between them, but understood each other far better than could be expressed through language.

Karin began to form the head in the way she assumed Hyorinmaru looked from Toshiro's shikai, but stopped. Glancing over at Toshiro she could see he was completely concentrated on the work he was doing and not looking up at her. Next she glanced around, seeing everyone else was completely concentrated on their snowmen. Finally, Toshiro looked up, confused by her lack of activity.

"Karin?"

"Nothing, just give me a sec-" Toshiro was about to protest, but his overwhelming trust in Karin caused him to accept her request and he went back to work. Karin closed her eyes and hopped into her inner world for a moment, the land cracked with earthquakes forming around her.

She looked up and saw her oasis of trees, with one tree in particular standing out. The pure white tree for Toshiro, the one that might have a picture of Hyorinmaru on it.

In a brief flash her shunpo took her to the tree's base where snow was calmly falling. It was beautiful as always.

"This is not the way you are meant to use an inner world."

Karin smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I know. But it's mine to use however I want to, right?'

Her zanpakuto spirit had nothing to rebuke that statement.

Looking around, Karin saw various ornaments on his tree of the various things she connected with them. There was even one of a stack paperwork.

She circled around the tree and found the one she was looking for, a ornament made of ice resembling a dragon. It was Hyorinmaru. His Hyorinmaru.

"You'll have to go back to work soon. Do you feel like you're ready for that?"

Karin, who was about to leave, stopped and thought over the question. Then, turning to her zanpakuto, she answered, "I need to be ready. I won't accept anything else from myself."

After that one statement, Karin left her innerworld and continued working on the dragon's head, now confident in what it should look like.

"You okay?" Toshiro asked when she 'woke up', concern clearly evident in his voice. It actually made Karin smile a little, hearing him worry about her.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just checking on a few things."

Taking her word for it, Toshiro let the matter drop and continued sculpting the tail to perfection. One thing they had not considered when listing the ways they would have an advantage over the other contestants was that Toshiro was the world's greatest perfectionist.

Then again, that was just Toshiro, so Karin decided it did not really matter.

While not an artist, Karin felt fairly confident in her ability to create a good head now that she had seen a model. She was so lost in thought that she was surprised when her subconscious noticed people were leaving. Karin stopped her work and turned back to look at the rest of the contestants.

"Where-"

"Lunch," Toshiro answered, not even bothering to look up from his work. "They still need to eat, though it seems like a few groups just brought their lunches with them."

"Hm, there resolve is weak." Karin mockingly sneered, causing both Toshiro and Karin to smile a little. Karin turned back to her work, reveling in the way the chill made her feel alive.

In contrast, Toshiro was actually a little too lot, having to put a jacket on so no one would ask questions that would be impossible for them to answer. In fact, Toshiro's face was slightly flushed from moving around in - to him at least- stifling heat.

Karin thought he looked like he was glowing.

Soon, their dragon was as long as they were and still growing, towering over the creations of the other contestants. And, most importantly, Karin was having fun.

"Thanks, Shiro. For doing this for me."

Two icy teal eyes that were somehow both warm and cold glanced up at her and Toshiro smiled.

"Of course, anything for you."

Normally Karin would have mocked him for taking the knight-in-shining-armor approach, but it was really sweet so she let it slide the one time.

"Attention all contestants, awards will be given out soon. If you want your award please stay for an estimated fifteen minutes longer. Thank you!"

The announcer was obnoxiously loud to Toshiro and even Karin flinched slightly at the sudden noise. The other humans- who were definitely _not_ in possession of enhanced hearing- smiled and started laughing at the noise.

Karin looked around at the people around her and then to Toshiro. Even as a preteen girl taking out low-level hollows she had always considered herself one of the humans. She felt more comfortable with them, would understand them, relate to them and enjoyed the same things as them.

Now though, as she looked between the centuries old shinigami captain and the surrounding crowd of people, she understood the feeling that had been bothering her a little.

"I don't belong here anymore, huh."

A chilly wind swept past, but Karin simply looked around at the people surrounding her. No, she did not belong with them anymore. It was nice as a vacation, but it was not time to go home.

"Yeah," she said, louder than her previous mumble. "I think that I'm ready to be done with our vacation, Shiro. What about you?"

Toshiro had been a soul reaper long enough to not even recognize parts of the world of the living from when he was alive. He had no strong attachment to the place and it was easy for him to consider the people living in it 'something different' from himself.

"I'm ready."

* * *

Karin toyed with the red clip in her hair- the only accessory she ever willingly wore- as she waited for Toshiro. The plan was to go hollow hunting for a little bit before heading back home to re-adjust to fighting. Sure, they had already fought some hollows, but it would still help them get back into the mindset on shinigami.

And then they could go home.

It was a bit funny how much Karin thought of Soul Society as home. It had something to do with the reishi-dense atmosphere; the people who all knew her; the people who respected her for being a third seat; the shop owners who knew exactly what she liked to eat; the presence of her brother; the tenth division's military but also somehow welcoming atmosphere; it had to do with Toshiro.

It was her home now, and she would need to defend it.

 _From your former friends_ , her traitorous mind supplied, _do you really think you can do that_?

 _Shut up_! She responded back with ignoring the logic behind yelling at herself in her head. It was the easiest way to drive the point home. She took in a deep breath.

When she let the air out it took a visible, almost physical form as it dispersed into the sky. Glancing at her watch, she determined that while Toshiro had to do some paperwork to make it legal for them to destroy hollows he would be done soon. Hopefully.

She did not have anything to worry about thought, as Toshiro soon appeared next to her, also appearing as just a soul. The mod-souls in their gigai's would be having a hot chocolate date together while the two of them had a hollow hunting date together.

Matsumoto would have called it romantic.

The couple flashed away using shunpo, then appeared over the mountain's, zanpakuto at the ready. They still would not be able to unseal their swords, but this was a good way to adjust their mindsets back to battle. Soon, two hollows appeared in the distance from opposite directions.

Feeling them, Karin and Toshiro glanced at each other, only making eye contact for a second but conveying everything they needed to. The turned so their backs were facing each other and moved in opposite directions.

The hollow Karin was attacking roared as it came into sight, not having sensed her yet. It was a bad move in terms of strategic advantage, as now Karin knew exactly where the hollow was and no longer needed to trust her- admittedly poor- reiatsu sensing skills.

"Stupid hollow," she grumbled with a glare, feeling as if the animal had personally insulted her. If it was intelligent enough to do that. Still, her eardrums hurt a little and while it helped her it was still annoying.

The hollow did not seem to be moving in a specific direction, simply starting to walk as if hunting something. Then it crashed into the side of the mountain and brought snow down on both itself and Karin, who had been standing over it in the air.

As she gave a burst of her reiatsu to clear the snow away the hollow finally noticed her. It gave another roar but was still slightly trapped in the snow.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid hollow." Karin grumbled with a deadly glare. The hollow paid no mind to that and finally escaped the snow it had collapsed onto itself.

Karin was almost envious of her mod-soul's hot chocolate date. She loved fighting, but this hollow was… less intelligent than even the ones that were mindless beasts.

It looked weird too, almost like a very round jellyfish. It was still terrifying- especially if it was right on top of you and trying to eat you- but from far away it looked more like a sack of fluid with eyes. She supposed it probably did not have a brain, so some stupidity would make sense.

The hollow attacked her again, but it left its mask completely unprotected, allowing her easy access to its weak point. As soon as it moved close enough to her the fight lasted for another 0.2 seconds, resulting in, unsurprisingly, Karin's victory over the hollow.

Taking a moment to reorient herself Karin brushed some of the snow clinging to her body. She wished she could just use her reiatsu to crush the hollows which she had to fight like her brother did as a teenager, but she did not have his excuse of being completely incapable of controlling his power.

Glancing over, she found another hollow which, hopefully, would be more intelligent than the last one. She moved in front of it right as it began to gain on a soul and purified- which was really just exorcising, she had no idea why some shinigami got offended when people said they did that- the hollow in a single slash. She had caught it completely off guard.

After explaining some things to the soul and giving it a konso she moved to the next hollow she could find. In a low spiritually-dense area like this the hollows would be extremely dispersed, often requiring Toshiro or Karin to shunpo some twenty to fifty miles to reach them. So, even if the hollows _themselves_ were not a major concern, Karin and Toshiro still got a good cardio workout.

* * *

"That was nice," whispered as she stretched. The two of them had decided to visit the hot tubs as a reward for cleansing hollows all day and to finish off their holiday. While Toshiro normally would hate to be dropped in a pool of hot water, the place they went to had a pool that, while open, was left unheated during winter. There was even some ice forming at the top of the pool.

To Toshiro, it was perfect.

The two of them met up and began walking together, more relaxed than they should be (because if Soi-fon knew how unguarded they were being Karin was sure she would yell at them for hours). It was… a nice feeling, to be free of responsibility one last night.

Karin and Toshiro changed into normal clothes and went to go have dinner, sitting down in a large, crowded restaurant and waited for a waiter to come. Nearby, they could hear several different conversations from the other customers sitting around them. Most were boring and harmless, but…

Toshiro scowled, practically glaring at one table due to their words. The sudden movement drew Karin's attention and she looked over at him, slightly concerned. It would suck for their great vacation to end on a sour note.

"Toshiro?"

Said boy snapped out of his emotionally- driven state due to her words and turned back around to face her. He relaxed and shook his head.

"Sorry, I just heard a conversation that offended me," Karin lifted an eyebrow and waited for him to continue. "It was about the idea these two men heard in a TV show, I think. They said they have fifty-year-old wives who they could trade in for two twenty-five-year-old wives and seemed relatively serious about it."

"I see, so the logic is that if the years add up to the same value it should be an equal trade."

Toshiro nodded, still slightly angry at the logic.

"Oh, but I have an even better idea for them!" Karin suddenly declared, "Instead of only getting two women who are twenty five, why not get more?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you could get only two twenty-five-year-olds, or you could get the full deal out of ten five-year olds. That's five times as many people! Or, better yet, get fifty one-year-olds! Or a hundred babies who are six-months old!"

Even Toshiro was not able to stop himself from laughing at her words as a small giggle escaped his lips. He looked up at her, much more happy and relaxed than he had been.

"I think you might have missed the point-"

"Don't be ridiculous, I know my numbers. You want to trade for more, younger people, and I know how to divide the number fifty. Do you doubt my abilities so? How dare you?! And to think I've trusted you all this time without you ever believing in me!"

Once she finished that sentence even she could not keep it down any more and the two of them broke into laughter. It actually caused Karin to start crying, while Toshiro's cheeks were starting to hurt.

Rolling his eyes, Toshiro looked back down at the menu, taking in large breaths of air to calm himself down. The waiter came over and took their orders, and soon they were eating their last meal at the resort.

Karin closed her eyes and savored the moment, knowing that as soon as they were done with the meal they would be forced to return home. As much as she wanted to return home, she also wanted to put it off as long as possible. Weird, how the mind works.

At least there would not be a huge, taxing, _boring_ car ride to sit through on the way back, so she supposed it could be worst. If you had a hell butterfly, then the trip through the senkaimon was a calm, short walk. If not….

Ichigo and his friends were some of the only people to have succeeded in getting through. Karin was 60% sure Urahara had purposefully made them go through without a hell butterfly when the defense was scheduled to be there because he thought it would be funny.

"Are you ready to go?" Toshiro asked, and it took Karin a moment to realize the question was not just about leaving the restaurant, but also leaving their vacation. Karin already knew her answer.

"Of course!"


	28. Chapter 28

Momo could not help but shiver as a chilly wind brushed her skin. She disliked the cold, but it did tell her one thing. Toshiro was coming her way.

Probably.

She had not seen her surrogate brother in a long time, largely due to his responsibilities in the tenth, her responsibilities in the fifth, and the vacation he had just taken. She supposed he was scheduled to arrive back around this time, but had no idea why he would be coming to her. Just wanting to see her? Stress? Checking in? Relationship trouble? A question? A problem with the fifth division?

Or maybe it was just an unusually chilly wind that actually had nothing to do with Toshiro.

"Momo?" As soon as she heard her name Momo realized who it was. You can not grow up with someone for decades and then spend another few dozen years working near them without memorizing their voice.

"Shiro! You're back." Hearing the nickname, Toshiro gave a small sigh of annoyance and opened the door to her office. It was better than his reaction a few years ago, when he would have bristled and begun yelling at her every time she used that nickname. Momo supposed spending time with Karin fixed that. The other girl found out about the nickname and had taken to calling him that with the purpose of getting a reaction out of him, wearing him down and continuing to use it even after they became a couple and it became a genuinely affectionate nickname.

She was good for him, Momo supposed.

"Here," Toshiro offered a stack of paperwork to Momo and she looked up from her desk to see what it was. "We took care of a few hollows in the world of the living, this is the paperwork documenting our actions."

"That's… a lot of papers…" Momo muttered quietly, not liking the idea of having to do the job of sorting through it by herself. She had no idea how Toshiro was able to write so much in the first place, the only other person who had ever been this attentive on reports was… Aizen.

Momo scowled as the thought of the man resurfaced. She was a lot better now, but was still suffering the effects of the man's manipulation in the privacy of her mind. Taking the papers from Toshiro, she quickly began to read over them, hoping to distract her thoughts from their previous path.

"Say… Momo," she blinked up, not having heard Toshiro sound so uncertain in a long time. "It's about Karin-" Momo smirked. It seemed girl trouble was what was making her brother so uncharacteristically nervous. "-I think… she's still feeling the affects of what Kanna did to her. How did you manage to start to get over the effect Aizen had on you after the winter war?"

 _Oh_. That was a completely different question, but…

Momo glanced up and saw the desperation and worry in Toshiro's eyes. He certainly looked more relaxed now, and Momo was sure that meant Karin also was much more relaxed, but it was impossible to get over a betrayal like that so quickly so…

So, yes, she hated talking about this but would do it for her brother.

Slowly, Momo shifted her body so that she could face Toshiro while keeping a relaxed posture and spoke. "It took me a long time, so you should keep in mind that nothing other than time will really fix this. But if you want to speed it up re-shape her life a little bit. If you two keep doing the same things as always you're going to keep running into things that remind you of them. Get new hobbies, new friends, try out different foods. You'll still be reminded, but it'll help you seperate your memorise of them from your current existence and life."

Toshiro scowled and stared at the ground. It was advice from the person who probably understood their situation the most, but he still did not like it.

"Isn't that… almost like disrespecting the memory of the people we knew them as? Unlike with Aizen, I'm pretty sure that wasn't all faked. Wouldn't moving on from them sort of… remove that part of them?"

Momo thought about it for a moment, then looked over at her brother. "That might be a place where our experiences diverge. I'm not sure. I think that's something you and Karin need to decide, something you can lock away in another part of your memories and maybe accept as if those people you knew are dead. Or, you know, like their souls have been destroyed or sent through the cycle of reincarnation."

Toshiro nodded, smiling slightly at her little joke. Even just a few years ago Momo would not have been able to make jokes like this, even with him. She was really healing, he could do the same.

He nodded to himself and sent her a smile, making Momo smile back. It had been so long since they had gotten to spend time together as normal siblings, work having taken up most of their time. Thanking Momo, Toshiro returned to his office to find Karin and talk with her.

* * *

Karin looked around and felt the reishi dense atmosphere and took in a deep breathe. While the human world was fun, it sometimes felt stifling due to the lack of reiatsu in the air, and became highly uncomfortable. This, however, gave her more energy than she could have expected considering she lived here. Being away made her really appreciate the world known as Soul Society.

She was home.

In the distance, she felt Toshiro coming towards her. While she was still incapable of pinpointing his exact location- and honestly, who needs to be able to do that anyways?- she could feel his shunpo bringing him closer to her. She turned herself to the direction he was coming from and waited for him to arrive.

It should be obvious that, considering he is a captain, she did not have to wait long. He appeared in a flash, standing directly across from her, his teal eyes glowing with an unusual aura of satisfaction.

"What's the big discovery Captain?" Karin asked with a teasing smirk and a raised eyebrow. He smiled slightly at her words and began walking to his office, motioning for her to follow.

Soon, they fell into step and were travelling side by side, Karin watching him as she waited for him to speak. They continued until they reached the door to his office and the two of them went inside.

Once they entered they found Matsumoto sitting at her desk. She was, as expected, completely ignoring the paperwork in front of her in favor of drinking some alcohol she had gotten from who-knows-where (Toshiro had threatened all the nearby bars so they would never give her sake). Swaying slightly- though not as much as you might expect for the number of bottles laying by her feet- she glanced up and finally noticed their presence.

"Oh, hey taicho! You know maybe we should just move Karin's desk into this office, she spends most of her time here anyways, it seems kinda silly to have her use another office in the first place." While she had a point, Toshiro was more focused on the unfinished paperwork that stood stacked tall beside her.

"Matsumoto, why is that there?" He asked, gesturing to the stack and ignoring her suggestion. She blinked and turned to glance at the papers and looked back at Toshiro.

"It's just some unfinished paperwork, Captain."

The temperature dropped and Karin hid a smirk as she took a few steps away from Toshiro. Ice began to form at the ground he was standing on.

"Yes, _why_ is it here?"

Now, Matsumoto actually looked a little concerned for her boss's well-being. "Um… taicho? You're at the office right now, that's where paperwork goes."

"And why, exactly, is there a stack of _unfinished_ paperwork here when you were meant to be doing everything I couldn't do ahead of time?"

"...Ah."

Karin had no idea if Matsumoto was purposely messing with him or not. The Lieutenant was by no means stupid, but she did seem to have trouble remembering things that were overall unimportant, boring or that she did not care about.

Either way it was hilarious.

Toshiro continued to stare at Matsumoto, who seemed to be thinking through a few things, then turned to Karin. He gave an annoyed sigh and looked up at her.

"I'm sorry. We can go talk outside, just give me a minute to… handle this." He told her and was about to go work on it when Karin stopped him by grabbing the end of his sleeve.

"I'll help. You'll get done faster anyways, so I might as well. Besides, I'm your third seat so it's probably expected of me to help you with this."

"Thanks! You're the best, Karin!" Matsumoto yelled and Karin could not hold back a smile when Toshiro turned to glare at his subordinate.

"Matsumoto, she is the first third seat you weren't able to traumatize in under six months. That does _not_ mean you'll get to do less work as a result. Am I understood?"

She went a little too still and then glanced back and forth between Karin and Toshiro.

"But… I'm sure you two can handle it all by yourselves. You don't need me to help with anything. In fact, I'll just be on my way now…" As she started to get out of her chair and walk to the door Toshiro froze her feet to the ground and then sealed the door shut.

He turned to Karin, "We're just going to need sort the paperwork, I can worry about doing it later. I don't think this will take more than half an hour, especially if all of us a working on it."

Matsumoto sank to her knees, apparently having given up the idea of escaping her 'captor'. Seeing this, Toshiro unfroze her and they began to sort the paperwork, thought Toshiro kept a watchful eye over Matsumoto the entire time. Karin's paperwork had been taken care of by a kind fourth seat- a fourth seat who just happened to be terrified of being fifth seat based on how many Matsumoto had driven out and wanted Karin to stay as long as possible- so she had nothing better to do.

About ten minutes into their work Karin glanced over at her boyfriend and caught his attention with a wave of reiatsu she sent out.

"Do you want to just talk about it here?"  
"I suppose it couldn't hurt. I don't mind if Matsumoto hears." The reason they were originally going to do it in private was so that the general public would not hear, but since Toshiro had literally sealed the door shut that was no longer a concern.

"It's just some advice I got from my sister, she said that easiest way to move on from a tragedy is to separate your lives, so getting new hobbies and habits helps you move on."

"What new things do you think I could try? There isn't all that much time for soul reapers to do something."

"You could always try out drinking! You never do that with me," Matsumoto called from behind a filing cabinet. The temperature of the room plumited again.

"" _Quiet._ "" Karin and Toshiro commanded simultaneously. Their combined glares caused Matsumoto to flinch and slowly back away, her hand in the air as a sign of surrender.

"And? Any suggestions for how we can find new hobbies?" When it looked like Matsumoto was about to speak again, Karin reiterated, "any _good_ suggestions?"

Matsumoto put her hand back down and looked away.

Meanwhile, Toshiro thought over the question and tried to think of a suggestion. There really was not all that much for Soul Reapers to do in Soul Society, especially when they got to the higher levels and spent a majority of their time doing paperwork and training.

"We could try training together. Not just at the same time, but as if we were fighting against one person together. Soul Society doesn't do a lot of that, possibly the reason behind why we had trouble coordinating when us captains fought against Aizen."

"Wouldn't it be better for you to get, you know, a _captain_ to help you with that?" Karin asked with a raised eyebrow as she opened a cabinet and filed a large stack of paperwork.

"It couldn't hurt…"

"But it might waste our time," Karin countered and Toshiro conceded to her point. He turned and glanced over at the clock, scowling when he saw he was running out of time.

Looking back down at the room he relaxed slightly, they were pretty much done sorting and filing the paperwork, so he would not be leaving the girls to do that themselves.

"Sorry, I'll come back soon but I need to head over to a meeting now. Is that alright or is there something I should try to do before I go?"

Karin thought for a bit then looked back at her boyfriend, "Nah, we're almost set. There's nothing for you to worry about, so don't bother. You can head on over to your little meeting, we'll be fine."

"Will you help me on the paperwork when you get back?" Matsumoto asked as she shut the file cabinet and locked it. "I don't know if I can do all this work myself, captain."

Frost began to form on the windowsills and Karin spent some time admiring the intricate shapes they formed. Toshiro looked at Matsumoto, his eyes glowing slightly in the dim room.

"I'll _help_ you, Matsumoto, because it is for my division. That in no way means I will be doing all the work you _should have_ done while I was on leave. Do I make myself clear?"

"I…. Yes, sir…."

Toshiro sighed, releasing his power, and Karin rolled her eyes. For all the trust between them, it was sometimes difficult to tell how they were capable of working together. She glanced at the clock.  
Hey, genius!" Karin called, "You might want to get going, time's-a-ticking!" Toshiro took one glance up at the clock and scowled, clicking his tongue in annoyance and vanishing from the room.

"Couldn't you have said something so that he wouldn't be as mad at me? You definitely could have, why didn't you? Kariiiiin! Don't you care about my feelings?" Matsumoto asked Karin, who turned the other way and mostly ignored the complaining behind her.

* * *

Toshiro's shunpo caused him to flash into existence in front of the first-division barracks. He walked forward, was greeted by a shinigami stationed as a guard, and entered the meeting hall.

Inside, the first, second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth and twelfth division captains were present, with the fifth, ninth and eleventh division captains coming in from behind Toshiro. Outside of the government, Urahara Kisuke, Orihime inoue, and Ichigo Kurosaki- who was practically the captain of everyone in the world of the living by this point- were also present.

Kyoraku looked up and saw that everyone (1) had arrived. He stepped forward into the group and Toshiro could not help the flash of appreciation that appeared every time Kyoraku did that. Every time the Captain Commander would step forward and become a part of the group, not their leader.

For all that he respected the first Captain Commander and appreciated authority, they all knew the reasons for Rukia Kuchiki's execution and the Quincy (almost) extermination had to do with everyone in authority refusing to take the opinions of others. Refusing to allow their orders to be questioned by the soldiers who worked under them. Seeing Kyoraku do this again cemented Toshiro's notion; there was no need to make the conflict physical, it was slow-going but change was being made.

Kanna and Takahiro were wrong.

Kyoraku smiled and nodded to Urahara, who pulled out a holographic projector he had developed a while back and turned it on. Instantly, the area in the center of the room was filled with images made of light which was being manipulated by kido- when Mayuri found out what Urahara had done he immediately abandoned his other projects and tried to make a better one, forcing Kyoraku to send someone to remind the man there were projects that they needed to be finished- and showed something Toshiro could not identify.

It looked to be a black pond at first glance, but the way the videos showed it move made it seem more like a gas. Then it grabbed onto something and attacked it, causing damage in the same way a solid would. Toshiro looked down at Urahara and Kyoraku for clarification.

"This is an experiment the second division has confirmed to have been stolen from the twelfth division. It was meant as a device to make defeating hollows easier, but was not completed. Mayuri can explain in more detail."

Said man stepped forward, obviously prefering to be back at his lab, and sneered. He glared at all the other captains for a moment before moving the images around and enlarging one which showed a simulation.

"What it _would_ have done, if completed, is make it so that ordinary souls in the lower districts wouldn't need to worry about hollow attacks. At least that's what you idiots made me research…." he trailed off at the end, adding a glare to an unruffled Kyoraku for good measure.

"How would it'a done that?" Shinji asked, hoping to get some actual answers instead of more vague mumbling from the scientist. Toshiro noticed Urahara looking curiously at the images, his burning desire for research finally breaking through his masks.

"It's quite simple. The creation is meant to locate hollows and surround them, similar to how a spider would after it's caught a bug, then purify the energy inside, sending the soul to Soul Society. The big problem with them having this is that we didn't have enough time to perfect it. We haven't- yet- gotten it to recognize hollow souls as different from regular souls and the purification is showering it with a lot of shinigami reiatsu stored in the mist. This means it will probably forcefully send a plus soul through the reincarnation cycle."

There was a grim silence from a majority of the captains- though Kurotsuchi just looked annoyed- while they thought over what they had just been told. If that was set off it could easily destroy an entire district of souls and completely destroy -though Karin would have just said 'screw up'- the balance.

"Is there anything we can do to stop it after it has been released, or should our highest priority when encountering it be to keep them from using it?" Several captains looked expectantly at Kurotsuchi due to Toshiro's question, but it was Urahara who answered.

"Always so serious. Don't worry, my darling captains, everything will be fine. All you have to do if you encounter it is allow yourself to get caught within it!"

Soi-fon glared daggers and her reiatsu began to condense and sharpen, resembling a blade around her body. For all that she had relaxed her dedication to the rules after meeting Yoruichi again, she could never tolerate the former captain of the detention unit.

"Excuse me?"

Smiling and looking like this was exactly the response he expected, Urahara whipped out his fan and continued to explain, a flash of amusement in his eyes.

Maybe all the work-related talk was causing him to get a bit bored?

"Well, if you just let me finish I promise it will all make sense. You see, once you're caught by the black mist it will send reiatsu down to crush you. If you send a greater amount of reiatsu back then it will be overpowered and explode! No skill required, just use the Ichigo approach!"

"Wha-" Ichigo was about to protest to the name of the plan, but after stopping to think about it for a moment he sighed and relented.

"'ow many times do ya' think we'll need ta' crush it with reishi?" Shinji asked, a smirk on his face since hearing the name of the plan. Toshiro looked between the captain and Urahara, completely understanding why the men could be such close friends.

Though Ichigo seemed to bring everyone together.

"I created the mist so that it could be split up," Kurotsuchi responded, sounding extremely pleased with his accomplishment despite the fact that it might cause the near-destruction of several thousand souls. "If those fools use it correctly you'll need to do it every time you see some until we destroy it all or get the main sample back to me."

Rose got a contemplative look in his eyes and stepped forward slightly to attract everyone's attention. "It was designed to affect hollows, will it have a different effect on the visord if we get trapped by it? After all, us captains _all_ have a bit of hollow in us from the thousand year blood war."

"I was… unfortunately unable to test that, though it seems unlikely there will be any problems." Kurotsuchi responded, looking at each of the visord in turn as if they were escaped test subjects- which, debatably, they were to Aizen- and stopping on Ichigo.

"What?" Ichigo asked, shifting back slightly at the man's gaze. Toshiro sent a questioning look to Kurotsuchi which demanded answers.

"I also have no idea what kind of effect it would have on the hybrid. Perhaps we could test-"

"No, thank you Kurotsuchi, but until we need Ichigo to deal with some of it we will not be testing him. Are there any other questions we've got?" Kyoraku interrupted. While it would be good to figure out if the process would have a negative effect on Ichigo before he had to do it to save someone, it would be a worse idea to just leave Ichigo with Kurotsuchi for 'testing'.

Seeing no one had offered any further questions Kyoraku began his instructions.

"All captains, compile a group of capable fighters and keep them on standby. The second division already has a group participating in the investigation, your group may be called to assist them in some way. We know they are attempting to replace U- the Soul King," he continued, barely stopping himself from saying 'Ukitake' instead of 'King'. "So be on constant alert for a message from the royal guards at all times."

Ichigo had performed yet another miracle and gotten the royal guard to occasionally come down and force them to tag along of missions. By now, all the current captains were relatively familiar with the group and could recognize them on sight. However, in times of possible crisis the royal guard would not leave the King's realm under any circumstances, so they could not be relied on for help.

Despite that, Toshiro felt confident they would be capable of dealing with the experiment being stolen with little trouble as the method for dealing with it was so simple.

They would be fine. Or that is what he had to keep telling himself to keep himself from showing how worried he was about being forced to go against Kanna. It was not a concern in terms of power, but rather a worry that his mental concentration or motivation would cause him to be at a disadvantage when going against her. After all, he and Takahiro used to debate about the things they were going to start physically fighting over.

But no, it was- would be- fine.

* * *

Toshiro stopped walking when he felt a tap on his shoulder. When he looked up he saw Ichigo standing next to him and giving him a lopsided smile.

"Sorry, can I talk to you in private for a second?"  
Having only been about to go back to his division, Toshiro nodded. He had nothing better to do and Ichigo looked slightly nervous about whatever he wanted to say.

"Yes?"

Pursing his lips for a moment, Ichigo turned completely to Toshiro and began explaining. "I'll be heading over to hueco mundo to arrange some sort of agreement with Halibel, Nel and Grimmjow and the like so I won't be here to… you know, help fight. I… I might not be able to protect someone while I'm gone so please… protect Karin for me."

Toshiro's teal eyes hardened and he looked Ichigo directly in the eyes. "I never won't protect her, I promise."

Ichigo blinked, then smiled, "Right, guess it's a bit silly for me to ask you to protect her for me. Still, thank you. I'll be relying on you for help with this."

"Of course."

1) I say "everyone" but I'm not sure who replaced Unohana (I don't think her lieutenant has a bankai, but none of the others are really good at healing) so I won't be showing a lot from the fourth division. If I do show the fourth division it might just be some lower ranking members who follow Orihime's orders during times of conflict.


	29. Chapter 29

Karin glanced down at her soul phone again, checking the time. The device flashed with light and informed her that not even a full minute had passed since she last glanced down at it. She scowled and her reiatsu rose with an agitated tinge to it, causing the ground directly next to her to quake with energy.

 _He's late_ , Karin thought with annoyance and the grass she was standing directly on top of began to deconstruct from close proximity to her power. Honestly, if Karin was worried enough about her boyfriend not returning to the office at the expected time to wait for him outside the least he could do was not make her wait long.

Finally- after what felt like hours of waiting outside, but was really only ten minutes- she could feel Toshiro's reiatsu coming closer from the direction of the meeting.

As soon as he came within her line of sight she turned her body, lifted her phone in the air and

*BAM*

Toshiro was only barely able to catch the object- on closer inspection he realized it was a soul phone, what even?- which randomly flew towards his face at a high speed. Looking in the direction the phone came from he saw Karin walking towards him, a dangerously annoyed look on her face.

She stopped in front of him and sighed, then looked up with a raised eyebrow. Her body language and obvious annoyance left Toshiro extremely confused. He had no idea what she was doing outside alone in the first place.

"You're late."

"Ah." She sighed at his lackluster response, rubbing her temples as if to calm a raging headache. She glanced over at him and gave him a look that made it seem as if _he_ was the one being irresponsible and childish.

Which was completely untrue. He was _not_ a child!

"Couldn't you at least text me if you're going to be late?" She asked, making exaggerated motions with her hands to emulate texting someone. Toshiro pulled out his own soul phone and glanced at the time.

"It's only been twenty minutes since the meeting ended-"

"I know! That's part of the problem." Toshiro turned to her, a confused expression on his face. "If you remember correctly, we have a group of people trying to destroy our government who _you_ are directly connected to. How am I supposed to know nothing's happened to you if you're later than I expect. It takes you no time to get from the meeting hall to here if you use shunpo, so I had no way of knowing if something happened."

"And you?" Toshiro's eyes flashed with a deep, blinding fear for a moment before they glanced around. "You were waiting out here for me, what if something happened while you were waiting for me to get back?"

"I was fin-"

"But you might not have been. You're right, I should have texted you, especially now, but what about yourself? For all that you protect me, are you forgetting you could have gotten hurt too?"

"It's not a concern, I would have been fine!"

"No. You're acting just like your brother." Toshiro raised a hand to stop her protest, "Both of you are never thinking about your own well being. Anything could have happened to you and you'd care about someone else. You need to worry more about-"

"Same with you! You're protecting your squad, but unless Matsumoto or I make you you're never taking care of your own well-being! How is that any different?"

"That's not the point, you need to worry about yourself more-"

"So do you!"

The two glared at each other, panting slightly. They had not expected to put so much emotion into their little rants and were now slightly breathless.

Toshiro closed his eyes and thought over what was actually being said as the reason for their anger.

"So… we're both mad the other isn't looking after themselves?" He asked, causing Karin to look up. She thought it over for a moment, then sighed, tracing a hand through her hair.

"Seems like it. Fine, then how about this?" She opened her eyes and looked directly at him, a cool breeze rushed by. "I'll look after your well being, and you'll look after mine. You know, since it seems like neither of us is responsible or capable enough to look after ourselves."

"Alright, that sounds okay."

Karin motioned for him to follow and began walking back to the barrack. She glanced over her shoulder and caught his attention with a quick movement.

"So what _were_ you doing?"

"Talking to your brother, actually. He wanted me to look after you while he was off negotiating with hollows in hueco mundo," Toshiro explained. Karin rolled her eyes, but there was a small smile adorning her lips.

"We both know he's completely overprotective, don't worry about it. I've got it under control, so you shouldn't need to do anything other than tell him you're looking after me."

"But I will be looking after you," he refuted. "Remember? We agreed to look after each other for the time being. I'll just be keeping an eye on you and making sure you're okay."

Her response to his statement was to raise an eyebrow slightly and give him a look of disbelief. "Honestly, there's no need to go that far, I'm fine. I meant look after each other emotionally when I said that, not physically. I can take care of myself when it comes to just doing that. Besides, as a captain you need to look after your squad-"

"Exactly. I have a responsibility as a result of my position to watch over and protect every member of the Tenth Division. As my third seat, you fall into that category."

Karin sent him an annoyed glare but consented to the point he was trying to make. "Alright. I'll do the same for you, too. You never really seem to be looked after by anyone and don't let anyone except me take care of you."

Toshiro blinked once and then registered the last part of what she said. "I don't let you 'take care' of me, you just… help… sometimes with certain things when I forget."

"Uh huh, right. Well, we can tell people that if you really want us to. Anyways, I'll be careful, so there shouldn't be too much for you to help me with. Try to look after yourself so it'll be the same for you, 'kay?"

"Right," Toshiro agreed with a steady nod. He glanced down at his soul phone and checked the schedule he had planned for himself, then glanced up at Karin.

"Hm?" Karin tilted her head slightly to the side and raised her eyebrows, questioning clear in her expression. Toshiro glanced down again briefly, then looked back up at her with a calm expression.

"We should arrange a group with Matsumoto. The soutaicho has ordered us to prepare a group in the event of an emergency in which a pre-chosen team will be required."

Karin nodded once and fell into step beside Toshiro as they walked back to the barracks. "Will I be part of the team? Or does it need to be filled with members who are not going to have a job somewhere else while an invasion happens. If so, we're severely limited in the people who we can select."

"No, it can be anyone," Toshiro responded with a shake of his head. "It was decided that every squad would be required to form a team of six- including the squad's Captain and Lieutenant- with the highest ranking seated members being strongly recommended by Urahara as the following three. The teams are six so that in emergency situations there will probably be at least one person informed of what is happening and free to help."

"Logical," Karin commented, stopping in her walk and stretching slightly. It was annoying to try to talk to someone while using shunpo, so the two of them had waited until their conversation was finished. Now though, they disappeared as if they were a glitching computer image in the interest of saving time.

* * *

"Where is she?" Toshiro grumbled, quickly losing his patients with his lieutenant. The day was disappearing fast and shinigami were heading back to their dorms, so if they wanted to at least _start_ arranging the team that day they would need to find her soon. It would be near impossible to talk with her about it once she decided to go home for the day.

There was only one problem; Toshiro and Karin were at a complete loss on how to find her.

"I checked with some other people, but no one's seen her for a few hours. Do you think she already went back? She's still not answering her soul phone so there's a chance she's asleep," Karin explained as she walked up to her captain from behind. This caused Toshiro to scowl, glaring in annoyance at the ground for a moment before mellowing out.

The two of the made eye contact and could see a combination of the same two emotions in each other's eyes. Annoyance was the most obvious one, as the rest of their body language easily reflected the emotion.

The second one, however, would be slightly surprising to most if they were to be told about it.

Worry.

The chance was very, very small, but the situation was eerily similar to what had happened to Toshiro when he learned of Kanna's betrayal and went looking for Karin. Sure, Matsumoto had 'coincidentally' disappeared plenty of times before- especially when there was work for her to do- but Toshiro could not help noticing the parallels.

This, of course, was causing some of his control to slip and ice to form near him. He had to find her, he would not let it happen again. He refused to be too little too late again. Not for this.

Momo had disappeared and ended up being critically injured by Toshiro due to Aizen, Karin had disappeared and ended up being stabbed through the stomach by Kanna, Matsumoto was gone and now…

He almost did not want to find out what he would see.

So he _had_ to find her. _Had_ to figure out where she was. _Had_ to make sure she was safe. But what if he was running out of time? What if something had already happened. Matsumoto did not even have an obligation to stay in the same way she had to do paperwork, but the possibility was still there.

What if he was too late again?

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Toshiro's train of thought was abruptly cut off. He turned to face Karin, hesitating slightly at the genuine but concerned look on her face.

"Breathe," she commanded, and he suddenly noticed that he had stopped somewhere in the middle of his mental rant. He scowled, unused to experiencing this feeling of… being comforted. Sure, plenty members of the Gotei Thirteen had to receive mental assistance or coped with their insanity in quirk ways, but Toshiro had never experienced what had just happened before. He was always the calm one, the collected one, the one people came to when they needed help with this kind of problem. It was- had never been- _him_ that started to panic during an assignment.

"Sorry," he immediately apologized for having lost control over his thoughts and mind, but Karin refused to accept it. She shook her head and, with her grip on his shoulder, turned him so that they were facing each other.

Her seemingly calm and annoyed expression could not completely hide the concern bleeding through every one of her actions. In her eyes it resonated and overpowered every other emotion she was experiencing, and completely captured Toshiro. He glanced up as rain began to fall, some droplets during into snow instants before they hit him.

"Shiro," Karin said calmly, making sure she had his attention. "You have nothing to be sorry for, I get why you reacted like that, all you need to do is make sure it doesn't happen again. Calm down, you're fine."

"I- but, she might…"

Immediately, Karin pulled him into a tight hug and stood there for a moment, snow hitting her body. "I'm fine, aren't i? Everything will be fine, let's just keep looking for her. You know I'm terrible at sensing reiatsu, I can't do this without you. We're fine, so just calm down and breathe."

Toshiro- hesitantly- nodded once and took in a deep gulp of air. The effect was instantaneous, his body 'waking up' and his mind starting to clear. After a few more breathes he closed his eyes and felt his heart rate go back to its normal state.

"You good?" Karin asked as she let go of the hug and brushed some wet hair out of her face, revealing the trace of blush. For all that she was used to more upfront shows of affection from her time in the world of the living, this kind was completely embarrassing for her, if the pink dusting her cheeks were any indication.

"I'm good." Toshiro closed his eyes and searched for his Lieutenant's spiritual pressure once again. The biggest problem was that being highly drunk tended to alter a person's state of being enough to change their spiritual pressure slightly, so it was tricky to pinpoint her if that was the case.

"Well? Find anything?"

"There's a lot of spiritual pressure at the roof above her office, we could check there." Karin nodded and gave him a quick kiss before heading in the determined direction.

Every time Toshiro felt his thoughts returning to the direction they had gone he tried to snuff them out by focusing on something else. While doing this, he noticed Karin's kiss kept coming to mind as something else to think about and used it to keep himself flustered rather than panicking. Not the best strategy, but it would do.

When they reached the roof of the building Toshiro could sense the spiritual pressure with much more accuracy and was able to pinpoint it as Matsumoto. A quick flash of a memory- him chasing after Karin's reiatsu only to find her with Kanna- flashed through his mind, but he overwrote it again.

Slipping into powerful a shunpo Toshiro dashed up to the roof and felt Karin follow him and found…

Matsumoto, sleeping with a silly smile next to at least a dozen bottles of sake. His relief at finding her safe and unharmed was quickly overwritten by a strong surge of annoyance.

"Matsumoto… Get _. Up._ "

She continued to sleep. To his right Karin was watching the exchange with an amused expression, a majority of the earlier tension and concern he had seen in her gone.

"But taicho, please," Matsumoto spoke, causing Toshiro to relax slightly. "I don' wanna do da' paperwork, make someone else do it, pleeeeeaaaseee!"

She was still asleep.

Karin began subtly backing away from the two next to her as she felt the temperature of the air take a sudden, naturally impossible, nosedive. As the air grew colder Matsumoto began to wake up and Toshiro's eyes started to glow with energy.

"Get. Up. Now." There was an icy edge to his voice which made Karin shiver, even if she was not the one being talked to. Toshiro kept his attention focused on Matsumoto even as Karin backed up.

With the rain pouring down Karin had no idea how Matsumoto had been able to sleep- though the number of bottles gave some insight- but the change from that to ice and snow made it impossible.

Wah! Taicho? What are you doing here? Oh, and Karin-chan! Hi!"

" _We_ are here because we need to create a team of six including you, Karin and myself. Karin and I have been looking for you for," he glanced down at the time on his soul phone, "over an hour. So, that brings up another good question. What are _you_ doing here? You're still on duty."

"W-well… you see I was just… there was this… someone made an offer and I couldn't just refuse so… you know there. I just thought it would be fine for just… I mean if it was only for a little while-"

"I think I understand what you're trying to say and I think you know understand why that isn't an excuse which is going to hold up to anything. You know people in my squad best on a personal level, we need you to work."

"R-right."

It was true. Toshiro had memorized the faces and names of every member of his squad as well as their talents, reiatsu and fighting ability, but he knew nothing personal about them. Karin knew the kind of fighting style they would stick to, but neither of them knew any favorite foods or family lives or personal interests; that was all Matsumoto.

"Well, that at least sounds like more fun than paperwork! Alright, I'll help you."

"It's your _job_ to help me with this." Toshiro reminded her, but left it at that. It was more than enough that she was willing to put some work in and help.

WIth Matsumoto joining in, even the little time they had left was more than enough to complete the team of six. Seeing them in action honestly made Toshiro and Karin just the slightest bit jealous of her ability to socialize with others, even if they hated doing it themselves.

Toshiro and Karin were leaders. Even from a young age Karin always had a team of friends who were closer to followers joining her on everything she wanted to do. She took after her brother in that way, having his gravitational effect on other people despite their candid personalities. Toshiro, after moving through classes at previously unheard of speeds in the academy, had gained a following of distant admirers or adversaries who cemented the pattern of him being alone. His immediate promotion to third seat then captain caused that to manifest itself as him taking on the role of an untouchable leader.

But Matsumoto was a friend of every member of the squad. When she asked them to do something the tenth shinigami were _happy_ to do it for her, rather than doing it out of a sense of obligation or respect. Seeing how happy the three additional members of the team were at being picked by Matsumoto made Karin and Toshiro feel a bit bad about the slightly intimidating figures they gave off to their subordinates.

All of Matsumoto's suggestions were approved by Toshiro and Karin, leaving them with an additional fourth seat, sixth seat and seventh seat on their team. The fifth seated officer was, while talented, slightly too arrogant to work well in any kind of team exercise or project. (2)

After the three seated officers were told of the arrangement they left to return home. Karin, Toshiro and Matsumoto stood with each other, checking to ensure there was nothing which had to be done before packing up for the day.

"You know, I know you two are feeling bad about how Kanna… ended up… but you could try making some new friends with these guys. They're all awesome and are closer to your skill level than almost everyone else so it you be less like you're always teaching them and… you know… you could just-" Matsumoto trailed off from her rant, unsure of why she was having a much harder time than usual coming up with a reasonable sentence. For all that she was skilled at socializing, she had very little experience breaching a topic like this with anyone.

Karin and Toshiro looked at each other, making a silent conversation through their eye contact and feeling each other's reiatsu. A second passed by before both looked at Matsumoto with slightly sad, desolate, fake smiles and shook their heads.

"Thanks for the offer, Rangiku," Karin said, "but I don't feel like I'm ready to just trust someone like that again. Maybe we'll be able to develop a strong bond as we fight together and things, but until then I'm going to keep my distance."

Toshiro nodded, showing he agreed and Rangiku let the subject drop. After a few last checks on the state of the division she waved them off and decided to shut down for the day, heading to her room to sleep.

After she left Toshiro and Karin shared one more kiss before going to their own living spaces as the last rays of sun disappeared even as the rain continued.

Karin, from her room, looked at the calendar and realized her brother would be coming back to soul society after the hollow negotiations the next day. She hoped the rain would end before then, knowing how much he hated to see it after the day their mother died.

* * *

"Third seat Shiba-Kurosaki, ma'am!" She looked up to see a messenger from the first division giving her a ninety degree bow, "Your brother has returned and can be found in the first division, office twelve. When you are free you have been requested to come meet with him if it isn't too much trouble."

"Uh… sure."

"Thank you ma'am!" He disappeared as soon as he finished speaking, probably to find more messages to deliver.

Honestly, she hated all the silent admiration some people gave her, and knew that Toshiro felt similarly due to his status as captain and reputation making him one of the most lonely people in the world. At least until her brother had adopted the chibi-taicho into his group.

And she also had to deal with being a member of one of the five great noble clans and the younger sister of _the_ Kurosaki Ichigo on top of that. It was seriously annoying at times.

But as she took a moment to stop her train of thought and register what she had been told she lit up into a small smile. Her brother had finally come home.

First, she felt around and even her poor reiatsu-sensing skills- hey, she was at least still better than her brother and he had the admiration of _every_ shinigami- were able to pick up on Toshiro's icy power. In a quick flicker of shunpo she met up with him and the two of them hurried to "first division, office twelve".

"Do you think they should come up with better names for these places? I feel like we're a bit overly-reliant on numbers." Karin suggested as they entered the office.

Toshiro thought it over for a moment, then responded, "Maybe, but it works. If we used letters we would have to do something like 'office AB' once we got over 26 and using specific names would be difficult to remember."

"But it also might mean we could add some individuality. You know, instead of _every_. _Single. One_ of these offices looking exactly like the other hundred."

Toshiro hummed in contemplation to show he was thinking about it, but the two of them were interrupted by the usual sound of Ichigo's voice.

"Toshiro, Karin!" The two of them looked up and saw Ichigo coming towards them, Orihime, Nel and Grimmjow in tow. "How've you two been lately? Feeling better?"

"Yeah, we're pretty much back to normal. Did the hollow negotiations go well?" Karin asked, glancing behind her brother to see Nel and Grimmjow. Both hollows had been introduced to her by Ichigo several years ago, even before she had died.

"Yup, we've got the cooperation of a bunch of the arrancar who we know. Thanks for the help, Toshiro." Ichigo was referring to the advice Toshiro had given Ichigo-inspiring-but-terrible-politician-Kurosaki on how to conduct proper negotiations. Toshiro just nodded once and looked at Karin as the two of them shared a smile.

* * *

1) To the two guest reviewers who told me Isane is the new captain of the fourth: THANK YOU! I wasn't sure but that makes it so much easier. I guess Bleach's rushed ending made pulling all of that information front the last few chapters a little tricky. I really appreciate it and I'm glad you enjoyed!

2) Okay, so I don't think there was, but I don't remember if a fifth seat of the tenth division was ever mentioned. None of these people I'm using are going to be from the manga, so just assume that if there are any they left to join different squads or died before now. I think I'll just keep this at OC's because I don't feel like researching for existing members (who I'm pretty sure were never actually introduced).

3) Does anyone know the proper way to say 'shunpo' in past tense? Like, is it shunpo'd or shunpo'ed or something? Google Docs says that spelling is wrong, but it's a Japanese (fake) word so it's kinda hard to tell. If someone could get back to me on that I'd really appreciate it.


	30. Chapter 30

Akachi Torino was a what most would call 'unassuming' if they were kind and 'a blob in the background of everyone's vision' if they were not. He knew that better than anyone. As the youngest son to a minor noble house with no real land or power, he had decided to try and create a name and presence for himself as a shinigami.

That first year at the academy he was one of the youngest students, but with his sheer determination- and experience from having failed the past two years- he was able to pass the entrance exam. His family was proud of him, throwing a small party in his honor with just close family and friends. In the back of his mind he, secretly, wondered if any of them would notice a difference when he left, or if their lives would stay the same.

Torino knew part of the reason he had a weak presence was due to his lack of hobbies, a lack of social ability and a lack of enjoyment talking to people. He really prefered to spend time by himself most of the time, or maybe with just one other person for an hour or so.

But, despite that, he _did_ want to have part of his afterlife he could feel proud of. Something that would make him feel like _he_ made a difference by being there. So in the months leading up to the entrance exam for Shino Academy, he spent all his time studying to pass the entrance exam.

He failed.

He had (just barely) enough power to pass, but lacked the strength to even begin the fighting classes. So he waited a year, worked on that, and tried again.

He failed.

But when he failed that time he felt like he knew what he was doing wrong. Knew what the judges had been looking for and understood why they neglected to pass him again. With renewed determination Torino practiced and worked and practiced and then, the third time through, he passed.

Three times actually was not a huge surprise for anyone. The school had a low acceptance rate and Torino was already extremely young to be trying this out. Only 186 years old. (2) The only comfort he had through this all was that he heard a- for all intents and purposes- _child_ had joined the academy and graduated in only a year a decade or two ago.

Then, while he was in his last year at the academy, there was a suspicious invasion by Ryokai to save a prisoner who was going to be executed. A few years later there was the invasion on Soul Society by the Quincy, though throughout both Torino was forced to the sidelines and had a minor role.

When given a choice between the squads he immediately joined the tenth division, deciding to follow his comfort and inspiration to learn more about him. And, as it turned out, Toshiro was everything he had hoped for and so, so much more.

Despite his cold attitude and obvious talent, the captain would always make an effort to give his squad everything they needed, even if it caused him to have _another_ mountain of work. Torino knew he had struck gold by choosing the young- even with a few decades in service the captain had on him, Torino was still much older- captain's squad.

And then Karin Kurosaki, younger sister of Soul Society's hero, had come to the squad. At first Torino had been annoyed at her obvious lack of respect for their captain. It seemed to him like she was using her brother's status as an invitation to ignore protocol out of a feeling of superiority. But then…

Then, as he continued to pay attention, he- and everyone else in the squad- noticed the captain becoming more relaxed. For all her teasing, Karin still watched over their leader most of all. She never took the joke too far or hurt anyone or did not help when she was needed or - Torino was embarrassed to say he had done this- fawned over Toshiro as if he were a being to worship for his strength.

Soon after Torino found himself as one of the many, many, _many_ squad members who had been patiently-or not so patiently- waiting for the two to get together. Then they became the squad members who waited for the couple to become more open about their relationship. Currently they were the group of squad members who were nervously waiting for Toshiro to propose to Karin, but Torino was sure that eventually they would be the group waiting for the two to have kids.

Torino and his friends tried to keep it all secret of course. They had joined up with the Karin (and Toshiro, now) fan club in the hopes that no one would be able to notice them. As time went on, it seemed more and more likely Karin and Toshiro would do everything the groups wanted- some people were even planning out the wedding.

Torino's best friend was the biggest contributor to the last part- "Karin would look great holding some of these flowers" "Toshiro should definitely wear an icy blue and white kimono" "Food would have to be traditional Japanese, maybe from Kurosaki's sister" "It obviously needs to be in a Japanese-style garden" "Oh, oh, Kanna can be a bridesmaid" - treating their superiors as if they were characters or dolls.

Then they found out about Kanna's betrayal.

Not only had that ruined their plans, but seeing both their confident third seat and unwavering captain physically and emotionally _hurt_ by the act scared them a little.

After that, most of the squad had begun training harder, not wanting to get caught off guard like that ever again. Torino had just finished his training when someone came up to him with a request to deliver a message to Toshiro Hitsugaya Ichigo Kurosaki, who was with the captain.

As much as Torino wanted to find out what they were talking about after hearing that, he had a job to do. So, instead, he opened the door and gave a deep bow, stuttering out an apology for interrupting them.

"Never mind that, Akachi, why are you here?" Toshiro asked insisting, as always, to use his last name. Torino smiled slightly at the captain being one of the few people to remember his name despite not seeing each other often. It sometimes made him feel like his plan to make an impact and get noticed by being a shinigami was working. Out of the corner of his eye, Torino noticed Karin straighten slightly and move next to Toshiro, a serious expression on her face.

"Sir, new report. Or you and Ichigo Kurosaki (and company). We have confirmed the... traitor's goal is to replace the spirit king. You have been asked to confirm your team is assembled and to keep on guard. May I take a report on your current progress?" He stated, barely catching himself from calling it 'Kanna's group'.

He had somewhat known the new squad member from training and, while they had never been _close_ , she had been someone he trusted and respected in the time he knew her.

"Understood, thank you for your report. Can you tell Kyoraku-soutaicho that the team as been assembled?"

"Yes, sir!"

Torino bowed (again), turned on his heal and flash stepped to the first division without hesitation.

Back with Toshiro and Karin (and Ichigo and Orihime), they all looked toward each other in silence. An expression of frustration covered Toshiro's face as he considered whether there was anything he could have done to stop Kanna's betrayal. Karin had similar thoughts, and was suddenly overwhelmed with a desire to force herself to become casual. Well, no better way to do that than to make people laugh.

"Seems like there's _another_ group of people or person who wants to replace the soul king. You guys always have to fight these sorts of people don't you, I guess I'm the inexperienced one when it comes to that."

Her words made everyone at least crack a smile, all fully aware of what she was doing. Ichigo thought over her words and consented that yes, he had gone against hundreds of people like this before. You'd think someone would try something different, for the sake of originality if nothing else.

"Well, don't worry about it, Karin-chan." Orihime reassured with her usual, bubbly personality. "You're right, we have so much practice with this kind of thing that we can lead you through it easily."

Karin rolled her eyes in an exasperated manner, but the tension in her shoulders subsided somewhat. It was not even the fact that she was going to have to go against a rebel group- Soul Society still experienced those often enough that she had a bit of practice- it was the fact that she had to go against _Kanna_.

The second division was trained to block off personal attachment if it could get in the way of the mission, but none of the other squads were trained in fighting friends(3).

Karin took a deep breath. She could do this, her friendship with Kanna was not worth risking the safety of the hundreds upon thousands of souls she was tasked to protect.

Right?

Without being able to stop herself her mind flicked back to the debates Toshiro and Takahiro had when they all got together. The way Takahiro and Kanna had seemed like they genuinely believed they could do a better job than Soul Society and how their plans were not simply based on getting power for power's sake.

Toshiro reach over and gently grabbed her hand, giving her a slight startle. As she looked over to him, she remembered how he was able to counter many of the ideas Takahiro had, and how Kanna's brother did not seem to be aware of the changes that were being made.

Her resolve was reinforced and Karin took another deep breath. It was fine; she could do this.

* * *

"Yo, Urahara!" Ichigo yelled as he tipped his head in the shop. Taking over his dad's clinic caused him to see Kisuke almost every other day, strengthening their bond. They did; however, show their strengthened bond in slightly odd ways… occasionally.

"Kisuke get over here! I've got some information for you to play with!"

Though if Urahara Kisuke and Ichigo Kurosaki are involved it is pretty much a given that everything they do will be slightly odd. It does, apparently, stay relatively calm between them most of the time.

"Ah, Ichi, welcome back!" Urahara yelled from somewhere in the store. "Just give me a second!"

Ichigo sighed and waited for the man to appear. When he did, he was covered head to toe in ash and Ichigo could see the tip of his hair smoking slightly. Just another normal day at the shop.

"Did Yoruichi get mad at you and push you into one of your inventions or is this just the result of your own incompetence at staying clean while working on a project?'

"Incompetence? Ichi, this is undeniable proof of my brilliance! It's almost finished, too! I'll just need a few more test and that last part from tessai!"

"Mmhm," Ichigo agreed with a smirk, "whatever you say."

Undeterred by Ichigo's almost-sarcastic-but-not-really answer, Urahara cracked open his fan and sent Ichigo a beaming smile, the hat-as always- shading his eyes.

"So Ichi-chan, why have you come to visit my humble shop? Didn't you just see me during that meeting a few days ago? I had no idea you loved spending time with me so much, I'm honored!"

"Where do you get all that energy from?" Ichigo grumbled rhetorically, knowing full well the answer was I-get-limitless-energy- from- the-fun- of- messing-with-people.

Kisuke tilted his head to the side slightly, waiting for his answer. While the pleasant expression and smile had not disappeared, Ichigo could now easily pick out the curiosity in the man's eyes. He sighed.

"I just came to tell you that apparently Soul Society's confirmed they're after the spirit king, as you probably already knew, and are working on the elite groups within the squads. Toshiro's apparently already done with his."

"Ah, I see, I see. Thank you for that report." Ichigo rolled his eyes, but gave Urahara a grudging nod of respect before leaving the shop. As he was still in shinigami form, Ichigo looked like a seventeen year old- the age his soul stopped again at-so it was always a bit of a weird experience. (4) It was part of the reason Ichigo did not like the process of joining or separating from his body anymore, even if he liked both forms.

And now he also had to worry about Karin, who could hurt herself if she was not careful. Ichigo knew what could happen when you cared too deeply about someone on the opposite side of a conflict. He had experienced it himself when Uryu (pretended to) join the Quincy. It is easy to become so focused on the person who was your friend that you react at a slower speed than normal to the actions of all your other enemies.

He had friends and mentors who kept him from doing that. Karin and Toshiro had each other.

Ichigo knew Toshiro was strong; they had spared against each other too many times for him not to know. He trusted Toshiro to be able to protect Karin when he was not around.

He took a deep breath as he began to head back to the Kurosaki (technically Shiba) clinic.

It would be fine.

* * *

"Taicho! Hitsugaya Taicho!" said person's eyes snapped up from the dreaded paperwork covering his desk as he heard his forth seat call his name. He had not seen him since it was arranged that he would be part of the team along with the six and seventh seats, but knew he was acting unusually flustered.

"Tanaka. What is i-"

"There's a problem, taicho! You need to get to the first division immediately, you'll be briefed once you're there!" Tanaka leaned over, resting his hands on his knees and proving he had just moved as fast as his shunpo would carry him. "I was told you need to hurry, only you need to go!"

Before the forth seat had even finished speaking Toshiro had shot up- pushing his chair back onto the ground- and disappeared in a soundless shunpo.

When he arrived at the first division he did not even have to introduce himself or announce his presence before the guards flung the doors open for him. As he walked through the hall he noticed the spiritual pressures of Kyoraku and a few other captains present in one of the meeting halls and rushed to join them.

"What's the situation?" Toshiro asked as he walked inside, his concern doubling as he saw Kyoraku Shunsui with a uncharacteristically serious expression on his face.

"Hitsugaya-taicho," Soi-fon said with a nod as she flash stepped into the room. He nodded back and they both turned to their superior officer expectantly.

Kyoraku glanced down at a note- it looked like a report, but from this distance Toshiro could not be sure- in his hands and his frown deepened for a moment. It only lasted for an instant, however, as the centuries old captain soon covered up with his usual mask of a kind, relaxed smile.

"I'm glad you're all here, the other captains are out right now and will be briefed on this information later. We have just received a report that the zero division found traces of an intruder in the kings realm. Luckily, there were able to check and confirm Ukita… the soul king is still safe."

No one commented on his slip of using his best friend's name instead of the being's title, but understood how worried this situation had made Kyoraku.

"Do we have any idea how they were able to get in?" Rose asked, making sure he remained in eye contact with Kyoraku. Toshiro felt a twinge of guilt for forcing the man to act professionally when he was so emotionally invested in the situation, but knew it had to be done.

Sometimes he hated the fact that they were part of a military. His mind flashed to Karin, and briefly thought that if they had been part of a normal organization there would not have been any traitors in the first place.

Then he shook the thought away, remembering all the citizens they were protecting by doing their jobs. He knew why they needed to be there, even if he did not always like it.

His attention was drawn back to the conversation as Kyoraku answered, "We have some idea. The zero division checked over a few things and found that there was a minor rip in the wall between the realities which, while we can't confirm it, is suspected to have been created by the being the twelfth division created."

"Wouldn't we know if it was capable of that?"

This time it was Kurotsuchi who answered, obviously having been briefed on the investigation before. "The being is meant to cleanse hollows and send them to Soul Society, you idiot, we already knew it could cross beings between dimensions. While you all wanted the souls in the rukongai to have them, it was also partly for new shinigami going out into the field for the first time. It's already _meant_ to destroy the barriers between dimensions! I admit, I did not know it was possible to break through the barrier to the Kings realm with it," he grudgingly admitted in a lower tone, "but the theory behind that is sound. All it would require is someone to mess with the reiatsu and kido that make it up slightly different and have it try to attack a powerful soul while someone else guides the process."

Toshiro had to admit that did make logical sense, and would explain the break in. Before Kurotsuchi could get into _another_ rant about their general idiocy, he interrupted with a question for Kyoraku.

"Why exactly, if not to destroy the spirit king, did they break into the King's realm?" All other captains turned to Kyoraku and Toshiro relaxed slightly, glad he was able to get the conversation back on track.

"Ah, yes, well… we can't confirm, but our theories have a very high chance of being true. Urahara Kisuke and his group also agreed to the assumptions made by the first division. One reason was, most likely, to see if they were actually capable of breaking into the King's realm, as that process is highly theoretical. The other is ensuring the zero division does not offer us much assistance by destroying key parts of the realm and leaving them to keep it from falling apart."

Toshiro nodded and sat back to think over the information. While the zero division still did not spend much time interacting with the normal squads, Ichigo Kurosaki- as always- caused them to come down much more often than they had before the Thousand Year Blood War began.

"Does the fact that the invasion succeeded mean we _will_ be fighting without assistance from them?"

"It does. The positive side to all this, though, is that we know the zero division will be on high alert while guarding the soul king, so we won't need to send people to help them." Probably, was heard but not said.

"How classified is this information?" Toshiro asked as he mentally made a sorting of people on whether he felt he could trust them. "If Urahara knows Ichigo Kurosaki most likely does too, but some squad members might not take to this information well or might use it in the wrong way."

'Not take to the information well' meant panic at the fact that the King's realm was broken into and show unwarranted amounts of fear towards the 'terrorist group' which could lead to all sorts of problems. 'Use it in the wrong way' meant telling the terrorist group Soul Society's plans for the information.

"Only the tenth seat and up will be allowed to know, but I ask you to exercise caution and not tell everyone. Only the people who you feel absolutely need to know and your groups."

The captains nodded and left the meeting hall to inform their chosen squad members. Toshiro pulled out his soul phone and asked Matsumoto to gather the team they had decided on in the captain's office. Toshiro had briefly considered including his fifth seat, but decided there was no need for him to know if he was not part of the team.

The team, consisting of himself, Matsumoto, Karin, the forth seat, the sixth seat and the seventh seat, all sat in the meeting room to discuss the information. Toshiro found it interesting how the seated officers asked different kinds of questions than the captains had when they were told.

"Will the first division be able to help us later?" The seventh seat asked which, while not a bad question, was asked more out of fear than strategic planning.

"I don't believe we should assume they will be able to. They might, but it's better to prepare for the worse option and not need to use it," Toshiro had answered with Karin nodding slightly beside him.

"Aren't the royal guard really strong though? Why did they-"

"No one is infallible. They have a duty to protect the Soul King. When attacked that is what they did. The Soul King is fine, it's just that while they were defending him some of the towers were damaged."

"Can they break into the Seireitei the same way they broke into the King's realm?!"

"It doesn't matter, they have zanpakuto so they can just come in the normal way." Toshiro responded, trying desprately to keep himself from sighing. These squad members were plenty powerful, the problem was the royal guard still brought so much awe and respect that the idea they were unable to stop someone was terrifying them.

Once the meeting had ended Toshiro sat back and closed his eyes to meditate. He noticed Karin sitting next to him, keeping him company while he sat.

Meditation was actually, to the surprise of many, _not_ a process in which you have no thoughts and clear you mind. It was a process in which you have a thought, acknowledge it, then allow it to leave you conscious focus rather than expanding it. It was helpful when the practitioner wanted to try opening their inner world, but it could help calm you down too.

On his side, Karin did some of her own meditation, and Toshiro relished in the quiet of the room. Silent except for their breathing.

* * *

1) Hey Maria (Guest) reviewer! Thanks for your help on the whole 'past tense shunpo' thing, it was really helpful! I hope you keep enjoying my story. Thank you to all my other reviewers who wanted to help too.

2) So I'm not positive about this, but I'm just gonna go ahead and create by own conversion rate for the ages. I have no idea exactly how old most shinigami is Soul Society are (well, we know Yamamoto is at least 2000 yrs old but no one else), so I've decided to multiply ages by 0.1 to get a better idea. 18.6 years old would be pretty young to enter a military academy, but not unbelievable. Toshiro was probably physically eleven or ten at the beginning, then after the timeskip maybe 14. I also figure they must sill live much longer, because 200.0 for Yamamoto is still unrealistic.

3) That's one thing I've been curious about for a while. Like, it's obvious Soi-fon cares really deeply for Yoruichi, to the point where she would probably willing to betray Soul Society depending on how Yoruichi asked her, but isn't that not allowed. I thought the stealth force was supposed to not have those kind of attachments, so why is hers okay? I mean, other than the obvious answer of it would be a bad character if Kubo gave her no personal attachments or personality.

4) So part of this is, like I think I've mentioned earlier, once he became a shinigami again and his soul chain was cut it would make sense for his soul to stop again along with his body. The second this is, for all I know, all souls might stop again at some point. I would think Soul Society would have a lot more kids and old if your soul was exactly how it was when you died, but whenever we see it the people there are the same age they would be in any normal town.


	31. Chapter 31

Toshiro and Karin's meditation was abruptly interrupted by someone-thankfully- calmly opening the door. They had gotten rather tired of people slamming doors open while declaring there was an emergency. A shy girl from the fourth division entered the room and ducked her head down with a blush upon making eye contact with them.

"H-hello, Hitsugaya-taicho and third seat Kurosaki. You see Ichigo Kurosaki was talking with the royal guard through Urahara and- I mean- they were using a phone sort-of-thing Urahara had given them and they were talking and Kurosaki-sama arranged or-um, he agreed to help repair the royal dimension with the royal guard and even though he said it would repair itself naturally they could always use and extra hand and see if they could find a clue and he wanted to know if you wanted to help!"

Lack of air finally forced her to put an end to her nervous, stammering rant, but she had at least been coherent enough for Toshiro and Karin to understand what she had been trying to say.

"Has the Soutaicho given his permission? Is this an order or optional?" Toshiro quickly made the decision to continue interrogating the girl, even though she looked to be in a nervous fit at being asked a question.

"I… you see… I think-I mean I heard he gave his permission… but it's mostly Kurosaki-sama's idea-oh, but it's not an order, so if you're busy I'm so so so sorry for interrupting I didn't know and didn't mean to I just wanted to-"

"Yes, thank you, Sensai." Karin quickly interrupted, having remembered meeting the girl once before while on a visit to Orihime at the fourth. "I think I'll go give some help, you?"

The last part of her sentence was asked to Toshiro, who considered it for a moment before agreeing. "I see no problem with offering assistance with something like this. It might even end up being relaxing."

Karin nodded once and hopped up from her mediation position, instantly feeling slightly guilty that her sudden action made Sensai jump. Obviously learning from her mistake, Toshiro slowly moved to stand up, then sent a calm smile at the girl from the fourth division.

"Thank you for your help."

"I'm-I mean- you're welcome." Another bow and she was gone, having almost run out the door in her haste to leave. For a moment Toshiro was tempted to ask if Captains were really that terrifying, but then realized if he or Karin had been Byakuya Kuchiki the conversation would have taken a very different route.

Instead, turning to Karin, he asked, "You know her?"

'Yeah, through Orihime-nee. She's the current sixth seat of the fourth division, so we've run into each other a few times before at meetings too. Her name is Sensai Yui."

"If she's the sixth seat do you think she is on the fourth division's team? Or would her lack of self-confidence make that an unwise decision in terms of battle strategy?"

"Actually, she's probably on the team. She's really good at healing and doesn't have any self-confidence issues with that, it just so happens that talking with her superiors usually ends up about as well as it did with us. Of course, that's just what I've heard through the rumor network so I can't be sure."

"Since when do you listen to rumors?" Toshiro asked as he began walking to where he felt Ichigo's spiritual pressure. Unlike while tracking someone who wanted to stay hidden, Ichigo's uncontrolled power made it easy to tell where he was without wasting any concentration on him. It was quite convenient at times like this.

"I should probably rephrase. That's just what _Matsumoto's_ apparently heard through the rumor network based on the drunken mumbling I've heard her say a few times."

Toshiro took a deep breath to keep himself from freezing his entire division because of his lieutenant. Again. Karin watching him and secretly not-so-secretly took great amusement from watching his annoyed/frustrated state.

"Oh relax," she said as she gave him a playful shove mid-step. "It was useful this time so there's no reason to be so annoyed by her actions. Especially since they're the same actions you're _always_ yelling at her for."

After thinking it over for a moment she could see Toshiro concede to her point with with a scowl, so Karin reached over and grabbed his hand to pull him along faster.

When they arrived at the division and stopped walking Karin let go of his hand so they could both grab the documents laid out for them. Only the selected group members for each division would be allowed to participate to ensure no evidence was messed with. The two captains that might be a concern for- Kenpachi from not enough interest and Kurotsuchi from too much- would not agree to help in the first place if it was not an order.

Karin and Toshiro began flipping through the documents, each of which indicated what areas of the zero division would need to be cleaned up. Toshiro took a moment to appreciate the change.

Even as the youngest captain of the thirteen court guard squads he knew exactly how different it was for the zero division to actually invite them over and give them documents with information on what the base looked like. That being said, Toshiro was pretty sure…

"Karin, if I'm remembering correctly, you've never gone there before, right?"

Looking up from the papers in front of her, Karin gave him a bisk nod and explained, "I've met them all before of course, just by the virtue of being Ichigo-nii's sister, but there was never any reason for me to go to the King's Realm. Why? Is there something I should be concerned about or told before going there?"

"No, I think you'll enjoy it, actually. I can show you around a bit while we're conducting repairs." Karin hummed in reply and looked back down. Despite her lack of confidence in kido, she was far from the worst at it- they were all Ichigo or in the Eleventh-so she would still be able to offer assistance repairing the spiritual structure. Toshiro glanced back down at the papers and glanced over the reported damage on the place.

While it was apparent from the report that someone tried to destroy the place it seemed that the zero division was able to keep too much actual destruction from happening. The four 'islands' making up the royal palace were in peak condition, but the bridges connecting them were damaged by the attack. It was not enough to completely separate an island from the center; however, there was a danger of that should the royal guard not keep constant watch.

He supposed that was why they asked for help. They could undoubtedly fix the damage on their own, but would not be able to help the other thirteen divisions with the rebellion.

Ichigo had completely manipulated them- or would have if he had actually known what he was doing. At times like this, seeing the effects, Toshiro was very, _very_ grateful Kurosaki's natural charisma was also accompanied by a sense of honor and a lack of desire for political power.

It also helped that they-maybe could sorta hopefully-be family one day.

Toshiro took a deep breath and shook the thought away. He had a job to focus on, it really was not time to think about that. Using the self control he had trained into himself since his time at the academy he began to reread the instructions they had been given for the repairs.

"Hey, Shiro?" Karin asked several minutes later as she continued glancing through the papers, a slightly confused expression on her face. "What's the point of all the white towers?"

"...What do you mean?"

"I just feel like there's absolutely no point to them. I mean, there's the spirit king, and his royal guard, and maybe a max of three other people per royal guard in the king's realm. What could possibly be the point of making it such a bit space?! Do they all somehow _need_ to have houses the size of a small country?"

"This… seems to really bother you. Well, to answer that question, part of it is for training, while the rest is for their specialties. One member of the royal guard was captain of the twelfth division before she left, and she continues to enjoy experimenting while she is up there to improve defenses. One member is a cook, so she needs somewhere to both store her ingredients and to store the tools she uses to cook. This trend continues and each member of the royal guard has something the specialize in that they need room and tools to use because they can protect the soul king better that way."

Karin nodded along in understanding as he spoke, the explanation clearing up the questions she had completely. Before she looked back down she saw his questioning gaze, wordlessly asking why she wanted to know.

"Ah, well, I guess I was just thinking of the things Takahiro and Kanna mentioned. Like, it's such a big place for each of them, they can't possibly need that many towers and rooms. So why are there a few homeless people in the edges of the ryukongai? Especially when it was random chance they ended up there."

"I… see your point. And while we're probably better than all countries in the world of the living- just by the basic principle of most residents not needing food- there are a few things we could work on for that. Maybe we should start and effort or a program where members of the kido corps go down to the lower districts and make houses for the public to use."

"We could… I guess this is just a problem which needs to be fixed but makes sense in a capitalist society," Karin consented and finally put the packet back on the table for someone else to use, having memorized the instructions. Toshiro did the same, but then decided to continue their conversation.

(1) "Do you think we would be better of as a communist society?" Central forty-six had been somewhat similar, but after it was reformed-again- after another rebel succeeded in killing most of the members they lost a lot of their power. They could still easily be a pain for the Court Guard Squads, but their reform efforts probably would have met much more resistance before.

"Of course not, when I was still alive I got curious about it for a while and researched it. And yeah, while it's a nice ideal, I don't think humans are capable of thriving in that kind of a society." As they talked the two began walking to a bench in the first division to wait for the king's key to be opened. "Humans and human souls won't work anywhere near as hard if they don't find personal gain or value in what they're doing, so a capitalist society will always be stronger. Besides, it's way too easy for corruption to sneak it's way into a communist society."

The last part, given with a bitter glare, was obviously part of some leftover resentment Karin had towards the Central. Toshiro thought he remembered Karin getting into an argument with one of them a while ago, but decided not to comment on the matter to her.

"But you researched it for a while when you were in the world of the living? While you were still alive?"

"Yeah, the best example is China. It was pretty much dirt poor, then the economy became capitalist, then it became much, much wealthier. You probably know about that, right?"

"I read a report on it, but it's a bit hard to feel connected to a country in the world of the living when you never really feel any effects of the change which occurs."

"China makes a ton of stuff now, you should go check it out sometime. We could go together an-" what she had been about to say was cut off as she heard a crash. Both Toshiro and Karin instantly whipped around and stood up into a defensive stance until they noticed what had made the noise to begin with. Sensai, the healer from the fourth division's selected team, had just crashed into the edge of a table and fallen over.

"A… bit clumsy, isn't she." Karin muttered as they walked over to lend a hand."

"But she'll also probably be one of the best at manipulating reiatsu to reconstruct the King's Realm," Toshiro reminded, "So it's good that she's here."

As they finished talking they reached Sensai and helped her up, cringing slightly at the still-stuttering mess she was as soon as she realized they had seen her. Karin took a deep breath.

"Look, don't worry about it. It's fine. Just help us out here, okay?"

"O-of course… I mean, I was just… I shouldn't have… so sorry of course and I didn't mean to and I, um, and I'm just really sorry and I… think I should go now! Bye!" (2)

With a single flicker of shunpo, the healer had vanished, leaving Toshiro and Karin staring at the empty spot she had been previously. Karin flicked her eyes back to her boyfriend.

"How much do you want to bet that was a faster shunpo than she's ever done during battle or examinations?" While Karin and Toshiro had still been able to easily follow her, Karin was confident no one lower than tenth seat would have been able to. It had been at least forth seat level, and answered several questions they had on why Sensai was chosen for the team. She was skilled, just constantly nervous. They could work with that.

Toshiro rolled his eyes at her remark, but smiled at the truth in it. As a fourth division member she really was not under their jurisdiction, but they could still support her as she became more comfortable with her position.

Finally, the last volunteers arrived through the King's Key and the group was able to start fixing up and strengthening the bridges in the Royal Palace.

* * *

"Sensai, we could use some help over here," said girl jumped slightly at hearing her name called, but dutifully ran over to give aid to her superior officer, the fifth seat of the fourth division. She was full aware she was a bit of a stumbling mess, but tried to ignore that and accomplish something anyways.

It had worked pretty well so far.

As the resident kido expert in the fourth division, she specialized in all kinds of kido, not just the healing ones. Defensive 'spells' came far more easily to her than offense, but in both areas she was second only to the captain, Isane. She had also-obviously- been behind Unohana when the terrifying woman had been their captain, but she could say she was confident in her ability with kido, especially among the fourth division.

Except she would never really be able to say she was confident in anything.

Even back when she was just in the academy, it was always nerve-racking for her to perform under examination and she would mess up. She was better when no one was watching, so instead of joining the kido corps or another squad, Sensai had thought about joining the fourth; a squad which was always overlooked for their lack of aggressive behavior.

As time went on, she became more and more used to her superior officers in the fourth division, even if the number of them continued to decrease. The only problem was…

When she talked to _other_ officers, ones she did not know, she became….

As she thought over her mental struggle, Sensai continued to move pieces of the palace structure into place and send a wave of reishi which would harden and reseal the hole. It was kinda fun, doing the repeated pattern of work. She did not have much chance to use her other kido in the fourth division.

And from what she could see, she was making the fastest progress out of the people around her and coming out with the best quality result. She supposed it was not a skill one should necessarily be proud of-construction was a pretty useless skill for a shinigami to have- but she could not help the slight smile that reached her lips upon this realization.

Sometimes she was reminded that there were a few- useless, but still- things she could do better than most people could. It always made her confidence move up a slight notch before inevitably crashing and burning when she meets a new superior officer she is not comfortable with.

Why could she not summon this confidence when talking to Hitsugaya-taicho and Third Seat Kurosaki. Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, _idiot_.

Even through her thoughts taking a more depressed turn, Sensai was able to keep up her construction work and only snapped out of her thoughts when she realized she was finished with the section she was working on. Blushing slightly at not having noticed, she lightly slapped her cheeks to wake herself up and moved on to the next section which required repairs.

After several different repairs of the place she ended up next to Hitsugaya Toshiro. It took all her effort not to look at him, but she was sure she would start panicking and ruin her work if she did. What she was not aware of was that her effort to look away was extremely obvious and the captain she was trying to avoid the attention of was trying to figure out why he was being avoided. Especially since he could not remember ever meeting her before that day.

Toshiro, who had always been almost inhumanly observant, was then easily able to notice the work she was doing. For all that she was concentrating on avoiding eye contact with him, Sensai was repairing the bridge with flawless accuracy and a speed rivaled only by the lieutenants and captains. Kido must be her specialty, which, given her squad, made sense.

For a brief second, Toshiro could not stop his mind from flickering to the similar surprise he felt when he learned how skilled Kanna had been at kido, but he quickly shoved that thought out of his mind. It would do him no good to start comparing the two when he knew next to nothing about Sensai Yui.

He shook his head, not understanding why he had made the connection. It was not that Sensai seemed like someone who would betray them. In fact, for all the fear he felt in her mostly-controlled reiatsu he also felt a strong dose of admiration and awe (3). He had to calm down.

Except his mind kept going back to her. At this point his thoughts were starting to get in the way of his ability to work. He needed to talk to someone, to distract himself. So, "Sensai, right?"

Apparently not having expected to be talked to, Sensai jumped several feet into the air and almost tripped over her own foot. She would have, had Toshiro not reached out and caught her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Karin told me you're a member of the fourth division."

She turned around, eyes almost comically wide with surprise, before dropping back to the ground, embarrassed. "Y-yes, sorry. It's nice- I mean I'm pleased to meet you."

He could barely hear the words she was saying, her volume was so low. It would probably be a good idea to direct the conversation somewhere else instead.

"You seem to be quite good at manipulating reiatsu, even for a sixth seat." A light blush covered the girl's face, but a small smile appeared as well.

"Thank you. It's not a very useful skill, but it's a bit relaxing for me to manipulate reishi, especially when it's as repeated as this. I practice doing something similar whenever I get nervous so I'm really used to it."

"Useless? I'm not sure I would say that…" Toshiro trailed off, thoughts forming in his mind. Before the conversation could continue, however, the fourth seat of the seventh division (4) came over.

"Hitsugaya-taicho? We're having some trouble over here, can you lend a hand?"

"Of course," Toshiro agreed with a nod and stood up, following the boy's lead to an especially large crack in the bridge. He sat down and gave the group of shinigami there help and advice until the crack had been completely sealed.

Karin looked over from the station she was working in and smiled. She could clearly see the awe in the eyes of all the boys Toshiro was helping, and knew it was partly because of the ethereal, untouchable feeling he gave off. For a moment, her happiness disappeared, as she knew that feeling was part of the reason it was hard for her boyfriend to gain many close friends, especially in the Court Guard Squads. She knew it was a general rule not to become friends with people who are 'lower ranked' in _any_ job, but no one from the Court Guard Squads really interacted with any other people. The only two who had been able to overlook all that and become their close friends after only a short time had-

…anyways, Karin refocused on how she felt a tinge of resigned sadness when she saw how-regardless of how the boys in that group had turned to Toshiro for help-he would never be one of them.

Looking down, Karin noticed she was pretty much done with the section she was working on, even if progress went slower than she would like it to. It was not _her_ fault restraining reiatsu like kido required caused her own reiatsu to fly out of control. Though she was getting better after she got advice from K-

Happy with her progress, Karin immediately stood up and walked over to Toshiro, allowing him someone to be next to. He glanced over when she walked closer, but had already sensed her reiatsu and was not surprised she was there.

Karin knelt down next to him, close enough that they could whisper without other people hearing, and said, "Have you _seen_ the way they look at you? I think if you keep this up you're going to have a following of little ducklings sooner rather than later. I almost want to let you do this just to see it."

He scowled at her, but both of them knew he was holding back a smile. "It's a bit weird for you to call them 'ducklings' when each and every one of them is taller than you."

"I can't believe _you_ brought height into this. Only one of them is shorter than you are!"

"At least I have one-"

"Only thanks to that sudden growth spurt you had before and after the Thousand Year Blood War."

"Why are you bringing that up?"

"Because from what I've heard, you used to snap and yell at anyone who called or implied you were a child. Rapid temperature drops used to be expected weather for the Seireitei."

Toshiro gave a long, tired sigh, "Matsumoto…"

The two of them made eye contact and smiled, both trying not to laugh-though Toshiro was moderately (much) more successful-as they continued their work.

"Ah, do you remember Sensai? The girl you said was the sixth seat of the fourth division? We ran into her this morning when she told us about the reconstruction."

"Yeah, why?"

"She's quite good at this. Her control is amazing and-while she seems to have low self confidence-she is capable of using this technique to create expert houses and construction. From what I saw, she would just need the houses' blueprints."

"Is that meant to imply I should be taking lessons from her?"

"No, Karin. It was just an observation."

"Oh, wonderful," Karin rolled her eyes and pushed some of her hair back, recliping it using-Toshiro noticed- the clip he had bought her a few months ago. "So you're going to be filing that skill away in your mind so you can manipulate her into getting what you want later? The Gotei Thirteen is filled with too many people like that."

"There aren't that many of us. Only Kyoraku-soutaicho, maybe me, Shinji, Urahara, who isn't part of the Gotei Thirteen anymore, and Aizen, who turned out to be a traitor anyways." He grimaced slightly at saying the last man's name, but way able to make it out without allowing his voice to waver.

"Mmhm, sure, I believe you. Well, as fun as this conversation has been, I'm gonna get going now. My fingers are killing my so I think I'll see if there's anything Orihime-nee can do about them. See ya."

Right as she stood up to leave, Karin gave Toshiro a quick kiss on the cheek and whispered into his ear, "Love you." Before he could respond; however, she was gone and he sat staring at her for a moment with a small smile on his face.

* * *

1) I'm actually curious if anyone has an opinion about this. I shared my opinion, but I haven't really heard many other sides.

2) So I actually like this method of showing stuttering a lot more than l-like t-t-t-this a-and I feel like no one really talks like that, but I can imagine people who are super nervous talking the way I'm making Sensai talk. What do you think?

3) This might not make much sense, but I feel like I remember some of the more skilled shinigami being able to feel emotions from Ichigo's out of control reiatsu. And even if that didn't happen, I do know they were able to get a read on their opponent through the reiatsu said opponent gave off, this is just a bit of a deeper look into that. Like, when you can just sit down next to each other and study their reiatsu without worrying about fighting you can probably get a much better read of it. Sensai's body language would make how she's feeling pretty obvious too.

4) Yeah, this is just an OC. I don't know if we've been introduced to one yet, but if we have please just pretend he was promoted, moved to another squad, or died.


	32. Chapter 32

Karin was, for once, calmly sitting at her desk. She did not even have any paperwork to do, she was just sitting down and staring at a wall across from her.

The reason for this was simple; Toshiro had been acting oddly lately. It was not boiling summer yet, but she had noticed that shortly after they went to fix up the Royal Palace Toshiro had started to become more irritated. He would snap at Rangiku and would actually lower the temperature whenever someone implied he was a child-something he had not done in years. And worst of all, Karin had no idea why.

It made her want to break something.

Unfortunately, this feeling made her decide to spar with people, and even the current fourth seat was no match against Karin in the way Ka-

There was no one in the division who was able to stand up against her. Toshiro was grumpy and drowning himself in paperwork, Matsumoto was completely drunk and had left for who-knows-where and everyone else was too weak to last more than two minutes. In fact, that was why Karin was inside now. She had run out of people willing to challenge her when they saw the mood she was in.

Abruptly, Karin stood up, knocking her chair down behind her. The fourteenth seat, who was only in the room to file some paperwork, jumped when he heard she noise and started backing away from Karin in fear. Karin ignored him completely.

Well, apparently thinking about it while staring at a wall was not helping, so she would just need to confront her boyfriend directly and find out what the problem was. A flawless plan!

Even her meager reiatsu-sensing abilities could track someone she knew well if they were not even bothering to hide their signature. Soon Karin was trusting open the door to her division's Captain's office and almost ran into a towering stack of paperwork.

Luckily, she stopped herself just in time and forced herself to breathe a cautious breath out and ignore how impossible that would have been to clean up.

"What do you want?" Toshiro asked from the other side of the paper wall. He had obviously noticed it was her- his voice sounded much softer than when he had been talking with the other squad members- but it lacked the usual patients and understanding hidden behind the exaggerated annoyance,

Although in this case the annoyance might not be all that exaggerated.

For a brief moment Karin considered taking this cautiously and delicately, before she mentally wrote off the idea. It just was not her way of doing things.

As far as she could tell, the only way to get by the blockade would be to shunpo, so that is what she did. She felt proud to notice a flash of surprise appear on Toshiro's face when she blinked into existence right over his desk.

"Karin?"

"I'm worried about you, what's up?"

" _Nothing_ , I'm fine." While he did appear fine- if slightly irritated at her- his clenched fist around the pen he was holding told a different story.

"You've been depressed lately and it's annoying me. So, come on!" She reached down and pulled him out of his seat. "Let's go outside and enjoy the fresh air."

"I can't just-"

His protest faded the instant Karin flashed him a look and he gave a small sigh. Karin smirked and pulled him along as she flash stepped over the barricade and out of the room. As the walked together along the dirt path near the division-well, Karin forcefully dragged him along as Toshiro glared at her- they found another path Karin had never gone before. With a slight shrug, Karin decided to walk down it, Toshiro's protest having long since stopped.

For all that Toshiro was still giving Karin an annoyed look, he had to admit he was feeling better walking out in the open. The air outside was fresh and, while it was obviously cooler inside, the day was not especially hot. Eventually the two of them walked out to a meadow and Karin stopped walking. As she had still been dragging Toshiro along, he was forced to stop as well, and turned to her with a curious expression.

She was staring at him with one eyebrow raised and a general aura of impatience.

"What?"

The impatience increased.

" _What_?"

Karin sighed and finally let go, turning her body so it would completely face Toshiro. "Any time now."

" _ **What**_?"

"An explanation," she said, which ironically explained nothing. Karin stared at him for a few more seconds, before seemingly understanding her answer would not get her what she wanted. "I was hoping you could tell me what's wrong. It doesn't seem to be affecting your work much, but it's still kinda annoying since I want you to feel better. Besides, why'd it start a few weeks after we were betrayed?"

"Ah."

"Yeah, 'ah'."

Toshiro blushed slightly, having not been aware his mood was so obvious. It really had not been, Karin was just unnaturally observant sometimes when it came to him. She wished she could have had this ability before they started dating so she could avoid all the embarrassing misunderstandings that happened.

"Well… while we were working on repairing the Royal Palace I was working with a group of shinigami for a while who were having trouble. After I identified what the problem each of them had was, one of them mentioned I was really observant. When he said that, I couldn't help thinking 'not enough', so I've been trying to think over what I could have done differently. I guess that made me a little irritated, I apologize."

Karin smiled and rolled her eyes. "I do hope you realize that while Kanna and Takahiro were the most powerful ones, other squads had traitors too. We were the _only ones_ who rightfully suspected anyone."

"I know that, I'm just-"

"Worrying about nothing? Again?"

"If you want to phrase it that way." A spark of guilt appeared in Toshiro as he saw how Karin's expression dimmed slightly when they brought up Kanna, but as Karin powered through it he relaxed. This was an important way to get over something as well, rather than completely ignoring it happened.

The two of them looked at each other and smiled as Toshiro felt the last of his annoyance and anger fade. In fact, after this talk he felt better than he had in weeks. Glancing over at Karin, it seemed she was feeling the same way.

* * *

"I think we should get you to meet some new people," Karin suddenly declared one morning to Toshiro. "It'll really be good for you to make a few new friends and interact with people outside of the court guard squads. Why don't we go to a meeting with nobles and let you meet with a few people who you could have debates with?"

Toshiro glanced up at her in confusion for a few seconds, before it morphed into suspicion, then understanding. "Ichigo asked you to show up at another one of the Shiba clan's meetings?"

"Obviously," Karin responded, "Now are you coming or not? It's tonight, I finished my paperwork so I'll even help you with some of yours so you can make it and enjoy yourself-"

"And not leave you alone with nobles?"

"And not leave me alone with a bunch of arrogant, stuck up and humorless nobles."

"You're really not selling me on the idea of going anymore…"

"Well that didn't work so I'm going for the pity approach. Don't you love me?"

Toshiro sighed at the situation, but Karin could make out the small smile he was not completely able to hide. He glanced over at her with a raised eyebrow while Karin simply continued to smirk at him.

"...Fine." As he spoke the word, his body completely deflated, leaving his usually impeccable posture slightly slouched, passive and exhausted. "It doesn't seem like I have much choice in this."

"You don't."

"And to think some people believe I'm your superior officer."

"You don't get to make the rules, but you do get to chose which meaningless, pointless, redundant papers I have to sign everyday at work, so you're not powerless."

"Are you trying to… cheer me up?"

"We wouldn't want you to be sad, Hitsugaya-taicho. You are the most important member of the squad, after all, you do all of the paperwork nobody else wants to. We can't lose you!"

The two of them made eye contact, them immediately dissolved into fits of giggles. Or, rather, Toshiro was giving small laughs and Karin having trouble breathing from laughing so much.

"You're coming then?" Karin asked as they saw several other members of the squad start to trickle in. No one was expected to be present for another hour or so, but Karin, Toshiro and apparently a few other people liked to start early and finish early. Or, in Toshiro's case, start early, find Matsumoto, start her work late and finish late.

"I am. What time and where should I go?"

"We're meeting at the Shihoin clan around 8:00, but maybe just the two of us can meet a bit earlier. How about by the place where the path near the third division meets with the one near the second?"

After thinking it over for a moment using the mental map he had of the Seireitei, Toshiro smiled and nodded his agreement. "That sounds good, I'll meet you there at 7:30 then? We can walk there at a more relaxed pace."

"You don't want to just shunpo?" Karin asked and Toshiro raised an eyebrow. Karin immediately began running through her mind for what might be the problem, then allowed her eyes to widen as she understood. "Oh, right. Bad idea to shunpo to a Shihoin base, they treat you like an enemy, right. Good call."

"So I'll meet with you then?"

"Sure. Thanks for this."

Before too many people showed up, Karin moved her hands behind Toshiro's head and grabbed his snowy hair slightly, pulling him into a kiss. When she let go he smiled at her, his cheeks pink as if cold. Toshiro never really got cold, so the only times Karin could see this was when she made it happen.

She decided she loved how it looked.

* * *

At 7:25 Toshiro was waiting for Karin in the agreed upon spot. He was privately wondering how _Ichigo Kurosaki_ -mister I care about this so I'm going to do it and you all know none of you can stop me - was able to go to these meetings when they made even him do a double-take at the necessary formality. While Toshiro approved of respect for captains, lieutenants and higher seated members in the military, pointless, long and drawn out formality which only made things less efficient annoying even to him.

Then again, it did seem likely that Ichigo's status as war hero made few people question his choices and refuse to demand of him what they demanded from everyone else. He had not heard of _any_ families patronizingly insulting him for real or imagined slights the way the would all other newcomers into the political field.

Of course, without Ichigo none of them would be alive in the first place so it was understandable. He supposed that bubble of protection and the caution given from noble houses to the captains had surrounded Karin as well. No one would really want to offend an heiress of the Shiba clan who is both the younger sister of Ichigo Kurosaki and the girlfriend of Toshiro HItsugaya. He was sure that was only helped by the story Karin told him of when one noble got a little too flirty and she released control of her reiatsu on the party.

No one had questioned her after that. ;)

"Early as always, huh Shiro," Karin teased after appearing in a flash of shunpo. Toshiro could see her wearing a more-formal- but-still -not-restricting kimono and the clip he had gotten her several months ago. He knew she had been practicing it, so if they were forced to leave their zanpakuto behind she probably felt better with _some_ protection.

He hated the Shihoin and their no weapon rules. He did not care if he could easily take out everyone at that party- barring Karin and the Shihoin heir- without his zanpakuto, he hated the rule.

"You look beautiful."

"Well that's sweet of you to say. And hey, we contrast," she said, gesturing to the icy blue and white kimono Toshiro wore and then to the black and deep purple one she was in.

"I'm surprised you know enough about that to care."

"Please, I know both of us are experts on the subject from listening to the master for so long. Even if she was just mumbling in her sleep, she usually knew what she was talking about."

"Mumbling in her sleep while she was _supposed_ to be doing paperwork."

"Do you really expect her to do anything as unimportant and boring as that anymore. And here I thought you were supposed to be some sort of genius." Toshiro sent her a scathing glare, but Karin's smirk remained in it's place. Eventually Toshiro gave a small sigh and gave up on the possibility of being able to escape Karin's teasing.

"Remember, you're supposed to keep a somewhat noble aura to you during this party. Try not to let this side of yourself out on most of the nobles here, regardless of how you can get away with much more due to your position."

"Aw, Shiro, that's so sweet! You're worried about me."

"About them. I'd rather you don't mentally scar any innocent civilians tonight. Nobles or not they'll have no defense against you. I'd also rather not have to help you escape the detention unit, I can't imagine it's too much fun to be a criminal." Karin gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes at Toshiro's statement, but was inwardly pleased he had gotten so used to talking to her while teasing. The old Toshiro was too much of a stick in the mud to have considered it. Always nice to know your hard work has an impact.

"That's it, right?" Karin asked as they neared a large building surrounded by a flower garden. "The Shihoin clan's building."

"It is…" The two of them stared at the surrounding garden for several seconds, slightly marveled by the vibrant colors even as the daylight faded.

"Kinda… over-the-top, isn't it?"

"...A little. I wouldn't let anyone hear you say that though." Karin and Toshiro glanced at each other, sharing a secretive smile, before firmly covering their expressions with their chosen masks for when dealing with this specific crowd. Toshiro was an emotionless, uncaring, terrifying human embodiment of an ice dragon, while Karin turned into an unhappy, arrogant heiress who looked easy to anger.

Toshiro walked forward and after taking a second to recognize him-white hair and freezing reiatsu, not difficult- the guards opened the door to allow him and Karin through. Karin felt like she had just entered a different time zone, as the quiet, cool night outside seemed completely at ends with the bright, loud and festive interior.

His time as captain had long since trained Toshiro to always scan the reiatsu of the crowd when entering a room for treats. Usually, it was extremely important and capable of saving lives.

Now, it caused a migraine to form and Toshiro began to rub his temples. It was not the number of people, he was used to that from his time in the Gotei Thirteen, it was the combination of loud noise, bright lights, and the strong smells of food coupled with attempting to notice each individual reiatsu signature which caused a sensory overload.

He glanced up as he felt a hand on his head to see Karin taking his temperature. She was silent for a moment before opening her eyes and stepping closer, an unusually concerned expression on her face.

"You're really hot right now. I mean, not hot for a normal soul, but for you you're boiling, my hand felt like it was pressing another person, not a block of ice like usual."

"I guarantee no one else would be worried about a medical report like that." She did have a point though, the heat was starting to get to him. He also knew it was slowing down his thought process and making it harder for him to focus. That would explain why reiatsu sensing had been such an impossible task earlier.

"Let's wait a little while to do anything about it," he continued, "It would be bad if we don't make enough of an appearance." Karin nodded and the walked off to meet with different nobles, strengthening ties and showing the strong connection the clan had with the Court Guard Squads.

Around an hour and a half later, Karin saw that Toshiro had suddenly become a lot more hot and unable to think- the temperature might have risen- and looked to be swaying on his feet.

"Well, we have two options. One, I could leave your here and go get a bowl of ice or something. Two, we could head to the outer garden through that door." As she spoke, Karin held up finders to go with the numbers in a playful manner, but her expression was one of obvious worry.

"If… if we do the second option it'll be harder for people to know we were here. The whole point of coming is to make an impact and interact with the people around us."

"Don't care. Who knows, maybe we'll be able to drag all of them out behind us."

Without bothering to listen to another protest, Karin immediately grabbed her boyfriends wrist and dragged him outside. Meanwhile, Toshiro was trying desperately to get a hold on his emotions. He knew the heat was making it harder for him to focus and concentrate and his - while understandable - _weakness_ was bothering him. He also knew, however, that the heat would lower his control and make his emotions more centered on anger, so he had to stop himself from getting frustrated while he walked out the door.

(1) It was… a surprisingly difficult task. As his normally logical thought process continued to be overpowered flashes of irritation would appear. If he could just **_focus_** \- couldn't concentrate- just breathe- easier to be **_angry_** \- someone stopping them- **_move_** \- get out of the way - need to leave - **_too hot_** \- just breathe - in the way - breathe - could easily destroy the- _breathe_ \- calm down.

He could, of course, just let his reiatsu run wild and cool himself down, but that was a really, _really_ bad idea given current company. So he was forced to wait and hope both his overpowering emotions and the ringing in his head from his sensory-overload headache would go away.

"We're out now," Karin told him before opening a door and allowing the cool air into the room. Toshiro left the building and immediately began taking large, calming breaths of air to allow himself to cool down.

Karin disappeared for a moment, but shortly after came back. When she did come back, her expression had gone _red_. Toshiro could not tell if it was heat, anger, embarrassment or a mix of all three.

Then again, looking at the way her fists were clenched tight, it seemed like it was probably the second one. He took a few more breaths, his mind having returned to its usual logical state, and moved closer to her.

"Thank you, I'm sorry."

She glanced up at him in surprise for a moment, them immediately waved him off, "Don't worry about it, I can't imagine it was easy for you to keep yourself from freezing the whole block. That would have been much better for you and much, much, _much_ worse for me. You know, if I actually cared about politics in the first place."

"This is an _important_ _party_."

"How dare you assume I would care more about a party and political ties than the health of my boyfriend?" She asked in a manner that was half-teasing half-genuine. "Besides, this was the caretakers fault, if you check inside it's not just you, _everyone_ is sweating. It was fine while the clan head was here, but he had to go to a meeting a little while ago and offered to allow the party to continue. Everyone wanted the party to continue, so he put someone in charge and left."

"And what seems to be the problem?"

"The new guy in charge accidentally told someone to put too many logs in the heating fire downstairs. It's causing everyone to get too hot. Maybe I'll actually be right and they'll come out after us."

"Maybe…" Toshiro agreed as he continued to breathe in the cool air from the garden. Glancing back, Karin saw that some people did seem to be considering going outside, so she walked to Toshiro and began dragging him along. Eventually she came across two rocks under the shade-as much shade as there could be so late in the day-of two trees.

As Karin pulled Toshiro down onto one and sat on the other, staring out at the view of the garden their seats gave them. Karin had to admit she spent very little time around the Shiba compound if she did not have to; so she was not actually sure if they had a similar garden.

"Hey Shiro, do you know if the Shiba's have a place like this?"

"I think they do. Your brother would probably be able to find somewhere if you ask him to, especially considering how he'll do anything to please his younger siblings."

"You know, that 'younger siblings' bit kinda includes you too."

"I'm both older than him and knew your dad from before he met your mom! Even if I ma- know you I can't really be considered his 'younger sibling'." Toshiro grumbled, stopping himself from saying 'marry you' at the last second out of embarrassment.

"Yeah, if we're going by technical age. But if we go by physical age and mental maturity- as all of Soul Society does- you're definitely younger than him and about my age. There would be a few problems with me dating you otherwise, mister hundred something year old man."

"Well, maybe that's worth it then."

Karin laughed slightly at finally having gotten Toshiro to admit he- in this one very small way- did not mind being considered a little kid (or teenager).

"So, you like this garden?" Toshiro asked as they saw several other sweat-soaked-but-too-noble-to-admit-it nobles escape the building for the cooler temperature of the garden.

"Yeah, we should do this again sometime. We'll bug Ichigo-nii about it until he either finds one for us or creates one out of his desperation."

"You could always try doing what your sister does and turning some unstoppable puppy-eyes towards him. From what I've seen, he can rarely say no to that."

"In your dreams." Karin refuted as she leaned over and rested her head on Toshiro's shoulder. Toshiro smiled and then leaned over so his head was resting on top of her.

(2) "I love you."

* * *

1) Okay, I know this is against Toshiro's character a bit, but to be fair I don't think we've ever seen how he acts when he's really completely overheated. We see him get irritated because of heat, and we see him decide to do things that'll keep him cooler, but I can't remember him having a reaction to actually overheating. The reason I put this in the chapter was because just a few days ago I started overheating and I wouldn't really control my emotions. Toshiro is a hundred times more susceptible to heat than I probably am, but also probably has the self control not to snap at anyone. I know he seemed aggressive, but that's just his thought process and I think we all have thoughts like that when we're annoyed and overheated.

2) I'm going to start running out of planned chapters soon, so I'm not completely positive I'll be able to keep up with my once a week thing. I'll definitely try, I still have a few more planned, but just giving you a warning in case it doesn't work out. Never fear though, I will not discontinue this story partly because I hate when authors make an amazing story without finishing it (not that I'm saying mine is amazing, but it's the principle of it) and partly because I have an ending planned that I don't want to go to waste. Thank you so much for all your continued support!


	33. Chapter 33

The air blurred as Karin used her fastest shunpo to get to the meeting room. The captains were in the middle of a discussion, but she had just gotten a hell butterfly commanding her presence from the Captain Commander.

On second thought, Kyoraku never commanded anyone in the same way Yamamoto did; he 'asked' for your presence in a way that let you know he could make you regret ignoring his command.

Same thing.

Stopping abruptly in front of the meeting hall, Karin noticed not only Matsumoto, but that every single Lieutenant and third seat was present. Yumichika, who had been moved up the third seat when Ikkaku was make lieutenant- the poor fourth seat who had wanted to move up was destroyed in seconds- stood leaning against the wall, filing his nails (1). Karin noticed he was somewhat trying to listen in on the conversation the captains were having, but gave up relatively quickly.

Ah, they had probably put up a privacy kido, and from the reishi imprint, it was Toshiro's. It was sometimes annoying that he was a genuine genius, but at least they would find out why they were called eventually.

Matsumoto ushered Karin over and sat her down, leaning in slightly so they could whisper without being obvious about it. Not that the present crowd had anything to hide from each other, they were just all embarrassed at how worried they were about their captains.

"Did Taicho tell you what this is all about or why they called us?"

"Do you really think so?" Karin asked rhetorically, "I just got a hell butterfly to come on over and met up with all of you there. Toshiro didn't give me any warning about it or seem all that worried, so I'd guess he probably didn't know ahead of time we were supposed to be called. I _know_ he's not that good of an actor when it comes to me."

Finally, the lieutenant of the second division arrived, looking exhausted just from getting here. Karin knew his zanpakuto made him dangerous in his own right, but…

He just did not seem… fit for the second division. Though it was not her job to judge that, and he was respectful enough to her for her to not have any problems working with him.

A glance back at Matsumoto's expression showed she disagreed with the last bit, but Karin knew she was not vain enough to let that interfere with her work or lower her opinion of his mind.

"So… why did the captains want us to come?"

Matsumoto scowled again as he broke the invisible wall everyone present had been behind and Karin had to fight to keep herself from groaning. The reason no one had brought it up other than whispered conversations was that no one wanted to admit they did not know what their captain was doing as trust was such an important part of their relationship. That should be doubly true for the second division, who cared deeply about who know what.

Should have been.

At times like this Karin was just glad she never respected anyone until they earned her respect, it would have been impossibly disappointing to have her preconception of one of the 'fabled lieutenants' proven wrong so quickly. Finally, probably because they could feel from the reiatsu everyone was present, the door was opened and the captain commander came out.

"Thank you for coming," he said, as if the main reason they all came was not they feared him. "While the royal guard will be continuing to look after the Royal Palace we will be defending the Seireitei-" Karin raised a judgemental eyebrow at him, so he quickly added, "-and all other districts in Soul Society."

Karin's expression relaxed as he continued. For all that he was intimidating when actually angered and not someone you should ever be on the bad side of, she was encouraged to question his orders, unlike what she heard of the previous captain commander. It was just a matter of knowing exactly how far you were allowed to push.

"As such, I'd like you to gather the groups your captain decided on, and head to the station we have chosen for you. Each group will guard the surround ten divisions around their location, while the rest of the squad will be in charge of the Seireitei, with the captains transitioning between the two depending on where the attack is strongest."

"Understood!"

The collective yell of confirmation was shortly followed by the Captain Commander beckoning them inside. The group walked into one of the meeting halls and watched as a screen brought up a map of all of Soul Society. The different districts were separated in the same way states or countries would be on a map, with differently colored circles also present.

Kyoraku pointed the the main circle in the center which surrounded the Seireitei, "This will be the amount of land covered by those who are not part of the groups as well as the captains. We will send them separate instructions on how they will guard the land." He pointed to a second circle, "This is where the first division's group will be stationed, I will tell you how you will be scouting the area later."

Karin noticed each circle had the symbol for one of the divisions, with, apparently, the exception of the fourth division. The circle with the tenth division seemed to encompass districts twenty-four to forty, as well as a small mountain range in the middle. She turned her attention back to Kyoraku as he continued to speak, pointing at the circle with the second division symbol.

"This will be the area the second division watches over, your captain will instruct you on how she wants you to guard the area. Each squad's group will guard their specific area, a copy of this map has been sent to your soul phones. The fourth division will be sent to offer help if anyone needs it, any question?"

No one said anything.

"Alright then, let's be sure not to get ourselves hurt!" He said, a more relaxed expression back on his face. "If that does happen just call a member of the fourth division's team and they'll fix you right up!"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

Toshiro barely withheld a sigh as he thought about the meeting which had just happened. It had been- though he would never admit it- a massive pain to try and relegate a section of the Rukongai to each squad. On top of that he had to figure out how he wanted his division's group to guard the place. While he was one of the best at sitting still to do paperwork, even he had limits to his patience.

He needed to go train.

"Shiro, I'm back!" Karin called from the door to his office, causing him to glance up from the paperwork he had been hoping to get a head start on.

"Where did you go?"

"Big no. The correct response in that situation is saying 'welcome home' or asking 'how was work, honey?' Don't you ever pay attention to these sort of things?"

"This isn't our home and work's not over yet."

"You're completely hopeless," Karin insisted with a roll of her eyes. Toshiro glared at her for a moment before deciding to cave in, a light blush coloring his cheeks.

"Welcome home, where did you go?"

"I just finished going around and telling the members of our squad's group about the areas we're going to need to guard. They seemed fine with it so I don't think we'll have any problems. What've you been up to lately?"

"I was hoping to get a head start on some paperwork, especially considering every time there's a conflict _more_ of it appears seemingly out of nowhere-"

"-You know, you'd think with all the rebellions and invasions they have they would get more efficient about handling this stuff, at least in terms of paperwork."

"The paperwork is hard partly because your brother isn't legally obligated to do any of it. Sometimes Kyoraku-soutaicho is able to convince him to help a bit, but it's much harder to do the paperwork without him."

"That makes sense, you want some help then?"

Toshiro considered her offer for a moment, then glanced outside his window to the training grounds. The restlessness he felt earlier returned and the reminder that he was handling to work _early_ appeared in his mind.

"...Actually, would you like to spar?"

Karin glanced over in slight surprise- _Hitsugaya Toshiro_ not doing paperwork? The horror!-but it quickly transitioned to an excited smile. Toshiro knew she had not had as much time as she would have liked to spar recently.

"Sure! Just give me a sec to change, okay?"

"I'll see you in ten minutes by the third training ground then." At times like this he was glad Karin was able to change in ten minutes despite Matsumoto trying to convince the other girl to spend at least forty-five minutes getting dressed.

Toshiro waited by a pillar and passed the time by watching the lower squad members train. They put in impressive amounts of dedication and resilience, and Toshiro felt glad that his efforts to focus on those traits within his squad paid off.

Soon Karin arrived and they moved to the area farthest away from everyone else-both to avoid attention and to not hurt any members with weaker defense.

Toshiro instantly began putting up various kido barriers when they arrived, giving him and Karin an opportunity to use more strength than they would have otherwise.

"No sword releases at the beginning, okay?" Toshiro checked, and he received a quick nod in exchange. After a minute or two of making sure their bodies were loose, they stood directly across from each other on opposite ends of the area, bouncing slightly. A half-second later they clashed, flash stepping to the center and blocking each other's attack.

Toshiro smiled as he saw Karin continue to use her more aggressive fighting style to look for openings. Despite all her attacks, she never allowed his zanpakuto to get less than a few inches away from her stomach and neck, a problem he had corrected her of when they first began sparring.

Her ability to learn battle instincts as fast as she could always amazed him. Toshiro countered one of her slashes and aimed a strong kick to her stomach which she only barely blocked. The blow sent her back a few feet, but she recovered in remarkable time and continued he assault, attempting to shunpo to one of his blind spots.

Toshiro blocked her attack and retaliated with several slashes she was able to redirect. Her continued growth and determination not to give up always made him smile. Honestly, he thought she never looked more beautiful than when she got back up after facing something she could not overcome the first time.

She was a stunning, brilliant spark Toshiro could not help but admire. Looking at her when she was like this made him wonder how it was that _he_ was the one she fell in love with.

Everyone else had no idea what they were missing.

As Karin aimed a strike at his neck Toshiro grabbed her arm, twisting her into a choke hold. Karin immediately responded by elbowing his stomach-not enough to seriously injure, but enough to create distance-and flash stepping back to gain some distance from him.

Toshiro immediately followed her and used his zanpakuto to block Karin's zanpakuto from reaching his head. He glanced up and saw that Karin was wearing a fearless, lively, _exited_ smirk that made her seem to glow. His Karin was completely back.

Karin attempted to attack again, so Toshiro pushed her sword to the side and closed the distance between them. Karin's eyes widened as she noticed the attack coming her way while her zanpakuto was still out of reach. To Toshiro's confusion, in the little time she had before his attack hit she reached up to her hair and grabbed… her… clip.

Oh.

In an instant, the clip sent out a blade of concentrated reishi which Toshiro had to use shunpo to get away from. Once he had backed up he saw Karin appear directly in front of him, ready to take offence this time. Her skill at using the reishi-clip-blade was still less than her zanpakuto, so she had returned the blade to clip form and was once again using her zanpakuto to attack him. Their spar continued for another few minutes before swept her legs from under her and was able to pin her down, Hyorinmaru an inch away from her throat.

"I... " she had to pause, lack of air in her body making it difficult for her to speak. "I… I give."

Toshiro removed the blade and sat down next to her, letting her completely collapse on the ground for the time being. She looked like she needed it.

While he had her, he decided to go over her performance. "Your form has gotten a lot better, there are almost no extra wasted movements left over, so it's obvious you've been practicing. You've always been good at incorporating hand to hand in your sparring, so keep up the good work on that. You're still sometimes losing your balance when you attack, not leaving you with a good enough base. That's why I was able to push your sword away with my hands those few times, but you also completely caught me off guard with your clip. Great work. If you perfect that it'll be a perfect way to lay a trap."

"Yaaaaay…" Karin breathed, her words and the small fist she pumped in the air sarcastic except for the genuine happiness she felt at Toshiro's words. Toshiro sent a blast of cool air toward her and handed her a water bottle, which she took with the same sacred, gentle hands she might use for a newborn child.

After he helped her drink it she turned to him and said, "I don't suppose you have any more of these bottles water god?"

"Water?" Toshiro repeated, "I hope you realize I can cool the air down, not make water."

"Fine, whatever, just give me more." Toshiro was tempted to roll his eyes at his girlfriend, but instead handed her another bottle which she drank up greedily.

"We should probably get back to change," Karin finally told him once she was able to sit up again. "I think Ichigo-nii said he would be bringing Orihime-nee with him and visit."

"Alright, we can do that." Toshiro agreed, trying to help Karin up by reaching out a hand. His attempt was met, however, with a look of judgement and scorn which caused him to retract his offer. Karin stood up and gave him a look.

"Sorry for trying to be helpful."

"Ya know, if you keep trying to drag me everywhere I'm going to lose the ability to walk. I've completely recovered, our spar should have told you that, so what you need to do is stop worrying about things like this. I'm fine."

Despite the teasing reprimand Karin gave him the last sentence gave Toshiro the reassurance he needed to stop worrying about her and relax. They turned and began to head back to the barracks to get changed.

"Meet you in twenty by your office?" Karin checked and received a simple nod in exchange before they simultaneously vanished from where they had stood.

* * *

"Karin-chan!" Said girl was barely able to bite back a sigh at the childish nickname, but was satisfied knowing this was the _only_ person who called her that. She turned around to smile at Orihime, but was instantly engulfed in a suffocating hug and could not see. Orihime took no notice of that and simply kept hugging her.

Toshiro looked like he was enjoying himself watching Karin fruitlessly struggle from the side. When he had arrived at the place they had agreed to meet up she had told him she could not wait to watch the normally stoic captain be ruffled by someone other than her. She should have known that would mean she would need to experience it first.

Wiggling herself slightly, Karin was finally able to breathe even as the hug continued. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw her brother come up and raise a hand for Toshiro- who clasped it with a roll of his eyes.

After what had felt like an eternity, Orihime finally let Karin escape her prison and moved on to Toshiro. The instant Karin saw her boyfriend's captain mask break-along with a hug and cheerful cry of 'Shiro' from Orihime- she whipped out her soul phone and began recording.

Toshiro copied her earlier action until he could see, allowing him to notice the phone she was lifting up. For a moment, a look of utter horror engulfed his expression, before it transitioned to disbelief, then anger.

"Don't you dare-"

"I'm not going to do anything with it, I promise. I just want to have a memento to remember this rare family gathering by. No one will find out, I won't even show Matsumoto." She added on the word 'even' despite the fact that both of them knew telling Matsumoto was the same thing as telling eight ninths of the Seireitei.

Suddenly a stinging cold hit her fingers and she realized Toshiro had just frozen her phone. The twelfth had long since made them waterproof, but she would not be able to record until it was thawed. So, instead, she settled for smirking at Toshiro and making him feel uncomfortable until her sister-in-law let him go.

Soon after Karin, Toshiro and Ichigo found themselves dragged by Orihime into a cafe for the lunch she insisted they would be sharing together. Small talk continued for several minutes before transitioning to more productive discussion.

"What sort of defense has Soul Society put together?"

"We've selected groups consisting of the captain, lieutenant and four other seated members to guard specific sections of the Rukongai, while everyone else will be guarding the Seireitei. Karin and I are both going to be guarding a specific area consisting of a few districts soon."

Ichigo smiled, obviously pleased the Rukongai would also be guarded as one of the strongest advocates for that transition. Orihime smiled and looked to be thinking over something, before she shared a look with Ichigo and spoke.

"I think I heard about that. I will be sent to help out the fourth division's group, so I don't have a specific area to look over, and while Ichigo will probably be spending a bunch of time with the eleventh he'll also go around to help out different squads."

Karin and Toshiro nodded, obviously agreeing with their placement. The biggest problem was that both Orihime and Ichigo were still alive, so it would be difficult for them to spend too much time helping out while they had work. Mod Souls were all well and good, but it could be dangerous to leave them alone with a patient if said patient required more than the souls were actually capable of.

"What will happen with you during that time?" Ichigo asked, his gaze locked on Toshiro. "Will you be with your group, guarding the Seireitei, or helping out as one of Soul Society's strategists. You can't do everything at once, and each job would benefit from your assistance."

"Us Captains will just be- like you- moving around to wherever it is we with we can do the most help. We're faster than everyone else, so while it would be illogical to have them move around it should be fine with us."

"Alright, just don't overwork yourself."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that.," Karin assured her brother. "I'll see him around and physically restrain him until he rests if I had to. I'm used to him overworking himself so I know how to deal with it."

Ichigo and Orihime smiled while Karin continued to smirk despite the terrifying glare Toshiro was sending her way. Eventually he sighed and gave up, obviously seeing it was a losing battle.

Suddenly, Orihime looked like she remembered something and tapped Ichigo on the shoulder. When he turned his body to face her she began to madly point at Toshiro and make strange gestures with her hands neither Karin nor Toshiro had any hope of interpreting.

Apparently; however, they meant something to Ichigo. Karin watched in absolute confusion as her brother seemed to remember something, nod at Orihime, and turned to her boyfriend who was just as lost.

"Toshiro, what do you think of maybe coming for the next time I talk with the hollows as Soul Society's representative. Haibell is happy with me, but she wants someone she can actually consider to be a member of Soul Society during the next discussion. You can bring someone else along too, if you want to."

Toshiro thought about it for a moment before a flash of worry which bordered on terror appeared in his expression. "You do realize that would require me leaving Matsumoto in change of my squad, right? As much as I appreciate the offer, I don't feel comfortable doing that, for the current alert Soul Society is under if nothing else."

"Then why don't we help out your squad?" Orihime suggested, "I'm sure Mister Urahara won't mind helping us out and he's the one who suggested bringing you along on the talk in the first place."

"Great idea!" Karin declared, her excitement at the idea of forcing _Urahara Kisuke_ to do something overwhelming any possible argument against the plan.

"Wait, I didn't agree to-"

"In fact, I'll go with you so Urahara has to do both our paperwork."

"Karin, I don't think that's-"

"Maybe we should bring Rangiku along too."

"No."

"Hm?"

"I'm happy to bring you along, it might even be fun, but I am not taking Matsumoto on a vacation. Especially not when there's something she needs to get done on the vacation."

"Alright, then I'll be the only one to come with you." Karin turned to Orihime, "You won't mind staying here?"

"I won't. It's so rare that I get spend time in Soul Society alone! There are all sorts of dango places I want to try and it'll be so much fun to spend time with Rangiku and Isane and all the other girls. So don't worry about me."

Toshiro looked like he was trying not to sigh, mentally acknowledging that he was most likely the best choice for this job Soul Society had.

At least Karin's excitement over the plan could help him.

* * *

"Are you both sure you have enough clothes? Maybe you should bring some sunblock-"  
"Matsumoto, we're going there for a few hours-a day at most- and it's _always_ night. We're fine." Toshiro interrupted as his lieutenant looked seconds away from shoving another suitcase into his hands. He had no idea why she was so worried, Toshiro had been to Hueco Mundo plenty of times before and Karin had been once with her brother. All the hollows strong enough to possibly hurt them were the arrancar they would be talking with in the first place.

"Guess this is bye then, I'll miss you." Matsumoto cried, wiping her eyes of tears and sniffling. "It was nice knowing you, Karin and it was an honor to work under you Taicho!"

"We'll be right ba-"

"Don't bother," Karin interrupted, placing her hand on his shoulder, "You're not going to get her to stop."

Toshiro smiled slightly and nodded before he, Karin and Ichigo entered Ichigo's ganganta without looking back.

* * *

1) So I'll admit I'm not completely sure that this is right. It seems right to me, and I think I remember hearing how he wasn't moving up to fourth seat in the anime/manga just because he didn't like how the number four looked, but I could be wrong. If I am wrong, could someone correct me about how this all goes? Or maybe if I'm wrong about Yachiru not being Kenpachi's lieutenant anymore after being revealed as his zanpakuto. If I'm completely and totally wrong, I'd appreciate someone correcting me. Thanks!


	34. Chapter 34

"Well, this is as pleasant as always." Karin said, voice somehow simultaneously full of sarcasm and monotone, as their group stepped out of the portal. A cool blast of wind hit them, forcing them to squint to keep sand out of their eyes as it soared through the air. Ichigo sighed slightly.

"Yeah, but it shouldn't be surprising when nothing about this place ever changes."

"Personally, I'd argue you changed quite a bit. Even if we're only focusing on physical changes, you got rid of the sand guards. You know, when you knowingly and intentionally disobeyed the Captain Commander's orders and came her to rescue Orihime-nee as a teenager. " Ichigo glared an obvious 'shut up' to Toshiro's perfectly logical statement and caused Karin to smirk.

"You're fine with disobeying orders too. Don't pin this entirely on me as if you wouldn't do the same thing! If we had known each other better you probably would have helped out!"

"Amazing how you're still kinda a teenager at 'heart' regardless of how much time has passed. I wonder if separating your soul has stopped you from maturing."

Toshiro and Ichigo both immediately shook their heads at her statement, but it was Toshiro who answered, "Definitely not. He was frustrating beyond belief as a teenager. And it was hard to pin an age on him because sometimes he would act like the brash teenager we would normally characterize him as and sometimes he would be able to maturely make decisions under pressure like another adult warrior."

"Need I remind you that you were also a 'kid' at that time, regardless of your actual age." Toshiro did not respond, though Karin was pretty sure he was blushing. It was hard to tell in the dark desert they were in.

"Oh, found it," Toshiro declared, causing Ichigo and Karin to sigh with relief. As the garganta had pretty much dropped them in the middle of nowhere in the desert, Toshiro had been looking for a high concentration of hollow reiatsu to point them towards Las Noches, the hollow base.

Technically, they were all supposed to have been looking, but with Toshiro there neither of the Kurosaki siblings thought it would be helpful or necessary.

In a soundless flash of shunpo, Toshiro moved towards the place he felt the highest concentration of hollow energy, knowing the other two began following him shortly after. With the entire floor being sand they had all decided to move several centimeters above the ground on reishi platforms, a lesson Ichigo had learned after trying to run for miles across sand his first trip here. Within seconds they had arrived at Las Noches.

Several seconds after they arrived, they were greeted by an extremely grumpy grimmjow and an eternally bubbly Nel, as expected. What was not expected was for Nel to immediately leap into the air and pull Ichigo down for a suffocating hug. After several seconds of Ichigo trying to escape Nel released him from her prison and moved on to pull Karin and Toshiro down into a hug simultaneously.

"I missed you two! How are things going!? I hope everything's been going well! You make such a cute couple, it's adorable! How has everyone else back home been?! I haven't seen Orihime in forever!" Her rapid conversation with herself was apparently enough time for the hug and she finally let the two of them go, causing Toshiro and Karin to begin inching away warrily. They honestly did not think they had a chance of beating this woman in anything.

She was kinda terrifying.

"Hey Nel," Ichigo greeted, having finally caught his breath and recovered from the hug. "Missed you too, Orihime and everyone back home is doing fine. How've you been?"

"Bored," Grimmjow answered, "There's no one to fight with 'round here! Let's spar."

Toshiro cleared his throat, temporarily stopping Grimmjow from attacking. "I believe we are here for negotiations, yes? Wouldn't it be better to get that out of the way before taking part in more 'recreational' activities."

Karin leaned over and whispered into his ear, "I can't believe you just described sparring between two people who are capable of destroying everything within a hundred meter radius as _recreational_ activities."

"My point still stands."

That was, apparently, enough time for Ichigo to convince Grimmjow to listen to what Toshiro was saying and wait. They decided to sit at one of the meeting halls Aizen used when there had still been ten espada (1) for him to order. The long, impossibly steril, white table made everyone slightly uncomfortable with how it brought up bad memories- Aizen, or, in Karin's case, the desks at the shinigami academy they had to clean at the end of lessons.

Foregoing the head seat, the group instead positioned themselves on opposite sides of the center of the table directly facing each other. Ichigo and Nel sat directly opposite from each other, while Grimmjow refused to sit and instead stood behind Nel, half-heartedly glaring at the people across from him.

Ichigo seemed more amused by the act of rudeness than anything, though Toshiro wondered how the man was able to stay so calm when he was normally so abrasive. Perhaps becoming a strong leader in the world of the dead had effectively killed the part of his brain capable of perceiving something as strange.

That had been Karin's theory at least, and it did seem to make a disturbing amount of sense. Regardless, they had work to do and did not seem to be getting anywhere; prompting Toshiro to kick start the discussion.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, about how many of the hollows in Hueco Mundo do you think you are capable of controlling? I don't completely trust our investigation if they never spoke to one of you."

Grimmjow glared and straightened himself up as if preparing to fight, "Enough to handle whatever comes our way." He had practically growled the last few words, but all Toshiro did was raise his eyebrows and share a glance with Karin. Nelliel, however, took a different approach to the situation.

"Grimmjow! Be nice!"

"Shut up!"

"No! You have to be nice! We already knew they were going to ask that! It's the whole point of them coming here, why would they avoid asking one of the only things they need to know? Just be grateful he's not taking the more political route and trying to trick us into saying what they want us to!"

While Nel definitely had a point, Karin had to bite her cheek to stop herself from laughing. That struggle only become more difficult as she realized how similar their actions were to a cliche married couple.

Toshiro found himself concerned for why Karin started shaking and had to bring a hand up to cover her mouth in the middle of a martial negotiation. Then again, Ichigo also seemed to be trying to keep himself from doing or saying something, so maybe it was just something from the human world he did not know about.

Regardless, as Nel and Grimmjow were still arguing-bickering- and Ichigo and Karin were doing… something… he could easily tell the conversation had moved away from what they were actually there to discuss. He cleared his throat.

"As I said, we would appreciate your help in dealing with the rebels we are currently facing. Ichigo Kurosaki informed me you would be willing to give us some help, I am just curious how far we can spread the assistance. So, if you don't mind, I would like to rephrase; how many hollows do you think would be _willing_ to help us?"

Grimmjow relaxed slightly at the re-worded question while Nelliel put on a thoughtful expression. After several seconds of that she smiled and turned to Toshiro, a blinding smile shining through any possible nervousness she had.

"I think we can get about 200 hollows to help, though they'll be of varying skill. The good news is that I think it'll be unlikely anyone will help the other group, Ichigo terrified the intelligent ones when he was fighting Ulquiorra."

"I was not _terrified_ -" Grimmjow immediately began yelling, but a stern look from Nel quickly cut him off. Karin remained highly amused by their relationship, but was able to focus her mind on the more important subject.

"What about the… less intelligent hollows? What can you assume they'll do?"

"Those idiots can do anything," Grimmjow growled, "they might join your side unknowingly, they might join the other side unknowingly, they might just appear in the middle of the battle and start attacking both sides or do nothing at all. We're not their keepers!"

"Well," Ichigo began, "At least it'll be easy to tell who's an arrancar with a side and who's a mindless hollow. The big problem is the shinigami more prejudiced against arrancar who could claim they thought it was just a normal hollow."

Toshiro considered that for a moment before glancing at Karin. She looked up at him and smiled; they both had an idea. She turned to Nel and began speaking.  
"What if you help out around the outer districts? You'd be able to only be with a group of high leveled shinigami who we know for a fact _can_ tell the difference- meaning there won't be genuine accidents- and it's a much smaller group so it will be easier for the captains to keep watch over other shinigami."

"What about Kurotsuchi?" Ichigo pointed out, "I mean, I guess now I trust the guy enough to know he'll defend Soul Society- to protect his research, if nothing else- but I'm not sure I trust him to protect hollows we're working with."

"Obviously," Toshiro agreed, then turned to Nel, "We can put you with captains who both you and Ichigo approve so that we can be sure you won't be stabbed in the back."

Grimmjow, who had been looking more and more offended by their worry as time went on, suddenly accepted the caution once he heard it phrased that way. He knew what happened to Haibell when she had worked under Aizen- what could he say? Orihime was a good storyteller- and he refused to let the same thing happen to him.

He turned to Nel -who was waiting for his opinion before making the final agreement- and nodded. Said woman instantly lit up and Grimmjow growled a slight sigh, though there was fondness in there as well.

Nel turned to Ichigo and pulled out a piece of paper- also the result of Orihime, who had gotten Nel into drawing a few years ago-tapping her pen on the table.

"Alright, what captains do you think can be trusted with the protection of allied arrancar? I would also appreciate it if they were farther away from the Seireitei, but if not that's also fine."

"Actually, it might be easier to figure out who we can veto." Karin interrupted, "Whoever's left over can probably be trusted. It would be more convenient." Toshiro nodded and mentally ran through what he knew of the other captains.

"Twelfth is out." Ichigo declared, leaving no room for argument. He turned to Toshiro, "What do you think about second?"

"...Soi-fon knows how to push away personal feeling and ignore most of her own bias if it is an order, but her paranoia will lead her to suspect the arrancar if anything goes wrong and cause her to devliever worse punishments. If Yoruichi will not be around the entire time I would veto her as well."

Karin nodded along in agreement, before adding her own two-cents, "I'd remove the eleventh as well. Kenpachi and some of the other members would just end up wanting to fight the arrancar; they almost never have a chance to. It would distract them and lead to, well, problems."

"So what? If they want a fight I'll give it to them!"

"Grimmjow, be nice. Besides, we would have trouble defending people if you were fighting. I think it's best you don't go to the eleventh. Though… maybe when it's all over you can spar with some of them." She added and Grimmjow considered her suggestion for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and leaning back in his chair.

"I don't believe it would be a smart decision to have the arrancar around the forth. They'll just be moving around to different groups to heal and will - hopefully- not experience much combat."

Ichigo nodded to Toshiro's statement, "Yeah, though it would probably be fine for the squads with Vizard captains. They're all already used to working with people who have hollow influence."

"Mmhm," Karin agreed, "And I know Rukia will be fine with keeping her squad under control over in the thirteenth. So we should be good to go there. First?"

"I don't know how busy the Soutaicho will be, so he might not be there to watch over his squad. I'd avoid it if we have the option to do so." Toshiro paused for a moment, "Byakuya is strict enough that I believe we can trust him with the arrancar, any disagreements to that?"

Nel shook her head, nudged a scowling Grimmjow, then shook her head with him simultaneously. Karin smirked and glanced over at Toshiro, who seemed to be running through the remaining captains for their verdict.

"I'd be happy to have you in the tenth," Karin said, "If our highness, _Hitsugaya-taicho_ , will permit it. What'd ya say, Shiro? Up for a bit of extra supervision and paperwork?"

"Karin, if you deliberately take actions to give me more paperwork I'm going to make you help me."

"You'd never be able to prove I did."

"Then I suppose you'll need to help me regardless."

"You wouldn't-"

"Do you want to test me?" Toshiro raised a single eyebrow at her, so she rolled her eyes and glanced away. He could not be sure, but he thought he might have heard her muttering about 'stupid-genius-captain-workaholic-boyfriends' under her breath as she glared hatefully at the floor.

Toshiro allowed a small smile to cross his lips and turned to Nelliel, "As she said, I'd be happy to have you and I'm confident I will be able to control any less disciplined members of my squad."

Nel made another note on her paper and gave a nod, "What about squads eight and nine?'

"You can choose, it's up to you on how much you trust them, I don't feel strongly either way."

Grimmjow leaned over to Nel and made a show of crossing out the two squads, "If we don't have to we're not gonna risk all that. I'll be fine, but a few of Nel's friends would be killed within seconds if caught off guard."

Nel nodded, "It seems like a good idea. Besides, I'm pretty sure we'll be able to keep most of the hollows under control with just our orders, but I only want them with captains I can trust to send them to us if they need to be punished."

Toshiro nodded to the statement and accepted it. In all honesty, they had done better than he thought they would, so he had no reason to fight for it or complain. Now it seemed the only thing left to do was turn in the results to Kyoraku, it would probably be best to head home immediately to get started.

"Hey, would you mind if we stayed for a few more hours to see the place? We're almost never here and you guys are going to be able to stay in Soul Society for a while when you come to help us."

Apparently, Karin disagreed.

"Sure! That sounds like a great idea!" At this point Nel had bounced off her chair and run over to their side of the table to hug Karin, smothering her. "What do you want to do?"

Squirming a little so she could breathe and speak, Karin replied, "Toshiro and I could build you an ice sculpture. In all honesty, no offence but Hueco Mundo is one of the most boring places I've ever been to. Once you've seen the sky and the vast land in the area it occurs to you that there's nothing else here."

"Actually, I really think we should be heading back-"

"Toshiro agrees, of course."Karin said, cutting off the polite refusal he had and ensuring he had no escape. Actually, there might be one way for him to get out of this and get started on work so it would not pile up. He turned to Ichigo, who he saw was looking back and forth between Nel, Grimmjow, Karin and himself.

"Yeah, that actually sounds like a good idea."

So much for that escape route. Was he out of options now. There might be nothing he can do to change the minds of Nel and Ichigo, and there was no way for him to convince Karin of anything. Then again… he glanced over at Grimmjow, who did not seem to completely approve of the idea of them staying in his home.

Then, however, Grimmjow looked towards Nel- who was happily making sculpture plans with Karin- and sat back down (2). For a moment, Toshiro was confused as to why, until he looked at Kairn and saw her face covered in a rare, small but genuine smile. A smile; not a smirk. He supposed it would not be a terrible idea to follow along with her plan just this once.

So, with that in mind, he let himself be dragged outside to the cool, empty desert where harsh winds constantly attempted to knock them off their feet. Karin shoved a piece of paper towards him which had a picture of a hollow mask with a dragon spiraling around the bottom of the mask to sleep. Staring at the paper some more, he then turned to Karin, a slightly amused- slightly confused expression on his face.

"Well, it's sort of to show unity. We had thought about doing the dragon wrapped around the hollow mask, but Nel said it made it seem too much like the dragon was attacking the mask. Besides, haven't you heard the phrase, 'don't poke a sleeping dragon', we did this and now we have all sorts of symbolism and stuff."

"Who is even going to see this? If it's in Hueco Mundo it barely matters whether I make it have meaning or not, only Nelliel, Grimmjow and a handful of other arrancar will see it."

"Who knows, maybe it will become a tourist attraction and get tons of visitors. Why? Are you embarrassed other people will know the ice cold, rule following captain knows how to do something other than work?"

Toshiro sighed again and started down at the mask, a frown forming on his face, "Karin, I'm not sure I can get this crack you want on the mask. It's thin enough that the ice would just seal it up with water vapor. Regardless of how little of that is around here, my powers will add more into the air. Do you want me to make it larger?"

Following his earlier action, Karin rested her head on his shoulder to glance at the plans she made. "No, actually, why don't I just do that part. My zanpakuto will make it pretty easy."

"...This is suspiciously reminiscent of when you made me participate in a snowman-making contest. Are you going to make this into a habit I should expect from you?"

"Of course not, besides, your zanpakuto is a work of art, you should celebrate that."

"...By helping you with pointless, trivial acts."

"Precisely!" While Toshiro rolled his eyes he also tried to ignore the splash of pride Hyorinmaru felt when Karin began to talk about him. Once again, Toshiro looked at Karin's-while teasing- still genuine grin and caved in.

"Alright, then. You might want to step back though," Karin nodded and moved over to where the rest of the group was watching him with excited postures and impatient expressions.

"I've moved back!"

"Great, in that case, _Rein over the Frosted Heavens, **Hyourinmaru**_!"

Within two seconds the temperature dropped at an impossibly fast rate, impressive, considering how cold Hueco Mundo already was. Soon, the temperature began to even out as it only continued to lower in a specific area, forming a mask almost identical to that of Karin's drawing.

The pieces met and seemed to meld together into a single structure while the dragon which positioned itself at the base of the mask twisted until they could see it looked identical to Hyourinmaru.

In one last flash of reiatsu, the structure was reinforced to make it harder to break or melt, with the exception of a line in the top right corner of the mask. As Toshiro stepped back, Karin realized it was her turn and released her own zanpakuto to create a crack trailing from above the right eye to the top of the mask.

Toshiro smiled, slightly proud of his work, while Karin instantly took out her soul phone and snapped a picture. A few more *clicks* and *beeps* on the device was all it took for her to send the picture she took to Matsumoto, who she knew would show the rest of Soul Society by the time they got back.

"Well, I believe that is all we came here to do, so I'm afraid now is the time we need to get going. It was an honor seeing you all, that you for agreeing to assist us in the coming-"

"What Toshiro means to say through all his 'political speak' is that it was nice seeing you, bye."

"Bye," Nel responded to Karin's not-really farewell, seeming to take no offence to the more brash tone. Ichigo smiled and opened a garganta to take them home, which Karin and Toshiro climbed in without hesitation.

* * *

Suddenly stopping in her tracks, Karin uncharacteristically turned to stare at her reflection in the glass with slight awe. She had heard that experiencing something slightly traumatic which increases maturity would cause souls to age rapidly- Toshiro had experienced that after Aizen's betrayal- but it had not yet happened to her. When she arrived in Soul Society, the soul shock had turned her body into that of a thirteen or fourteen year old, making her match with Toshiro. Now, however, as she stared at her reflection, she could only see a soul which appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen staring back at her.

She knew part of the reason she had not noticed had to do with Toshiro aging at the same rate, so now they both looked to be much older. Toshiro was still not quite as old as his bankai counterpart, which appeared to be in his twenties (3), but had obviously matured since Karin had first arrived.

For a moment, Karin wondered whether she should be happy or sad that these events had allowed her to mature simply by removing her innocence.

Then she shook the thought off, there was no point in worrying about something she could neither change nor use as a lesson to learn from in the future. Glancing at her soul phone, she checked the little time she had left and broke into a flit of shunpo to reach the place she had agreed to meet with Toshiro.

As Karin arrived the spot they had agreed on, she noticed her boyfriend was already present- obviously, she had a theory that he was physically incapable of being late- and ready to start training.

As this was Karin's 'first war' Toshiro thought a little extra practice would not hurt, and it might help him in the event he had any leftover PSD from the previous conflicts he had taken part in.

"It's getting late, I've finished enough paperwork that we can spend the whole night doing this but I believe it would be a better idea to not spend too long so you're not sore during patrol."

Nodding once, Karin asked, "Do you have any other plans for this evening? I can't imagine it would be a good idea for us to work longer than three hours."  
"No, would you like to have dinner together?" Karin considered the thought for a moment before nodding and unsheathing her zanpakuto, a smirk covering her expression.

"Sounds like fun."

* * *

Elsewhere, a former friend of theirs stood straight in front of the leaders in her rebellion, pretending to be interested in whatever they were discussing. She glanced to the side and met one of the eyes of the black shadow of a creature they had stolen from the twelfth, which was being watched by several guards.

As her leader, a man from the worse districts of the Rukongai who had married into a noble family, continued talking. While he had no combat experience, she and many others agreed with his values of equality the Shinigami had kept from the other districts of Soul Society for thousands of years.

Next Kanna glanced at her brother, Takahiro, who was either extremely devoted to the man to continue listening to him or even better than she was at pretending to care. Kanna bit back a sigh and turned back to her leader, who, while amazing at convincing people, tended to give long speeches once he had you working under his command.

It would most likely be noticeable if she did not know anything about what he was saying, so Kanna listened in on the end of his speech for some empty words she could repeat back later if need be.

"...The experiment shall be the deciding factor in this war, Soul Society has no one who can stand against it!" Here, Kanna thought about her former friend's brother, Ichigo Kurosaki, but opted to not bring up the slight flaw in the man's plan. He was a political figure, he did not have combat experience. "We will victor over those who have oppressed us and cause true equality to reach this land. I believe in our strength and ability to succeed, just as I believe in each and every one of you! This black figure, the experiment those shinigami were working on, is capable of destroying souls! We will only use it if necessary, but if that is the case we will not hesitate! Am I understood?"

"Yes, Sir!" Kanna yelled and bowed slightly with everyone else, though she knew for a fact she was not the only one who had tuned out 9/10ths of his speech. She was sure Takahiro had listened, so she could just ask him what had been said later.

It would seem like she would see Karin and Toshiro again soon.

* * *

1) Ten espada, right? I mean, there's a one through ten, and then ten can become zero, but that's still ten. Unless Tosen or Gin was added in… can someone explain this to me? I know the former Prima had a second half to his soul… was that his underling? They didn't act like it so I would assume it would make them both espada. The twists in bleach have honestly left me so confused.

2) Okay, so I actually think I might ship them. I mean, I didn't, but they're a lot of fun to write. I probably won't show them too much more in this story, but I hope I didn't terribly botch their characters because I thought they would be a cute couple.

3) I mean, I think? That's what Toshiro's bankai looked like to me, but Ichigo had a super mature appearance at fifteen in some scenes so I honestly have no idea. If not, then just accept this as a difference for my story please.


	35. Chapter 35

Patrol, for all that Karin had imagined it being filled with discoveries of intruders and epic battles, was one of the most boring experiences she had ever had to go through. Being able to move around slightly helped, but since they were trying to present a strong command she could not shunpo or walk off of the designated track. Karin noticed with no shortage of amusement that she was actually one of the better ones when it came to doing a good job with the surveillance.

No wonder Ichigo and company were able to break in while he was fifteen. With Aizen, Urahara, Yoruichi and the general impossibility that is Ichigo Kurosaki working against them Soul Society did not stand a chance.

No, no, it was 'frowned upon' to let your thoughts wander during patrol rather than keeping your focus on looking for intruders the entire time. Karin briefly wondered if Toshiro knew how impossible that task was, but supposed that if anyone could do it, it would be the ice captain.

Several small battles had already broken out in the other districts. Slight invasions mostly meant for the rebel group to test the waters and see how they matched up against shinigami. While nothing especially interesting, it did allow the shinigami who had experienced combat to get a better read on what kind of enemy they would be facing. Besides, regardless of whether it was useful or not, Karin was sure it was better than doing nothing. Then again, it would be better if those were attacks by hollows rather than the rebel group they were defending against.

The more time the rebels had to figure out their defense, the better their attacks would be- at least until Soul Society located one of their current bases. It was impossibly frustrating to not be able to do anything other than walk while the rebels took steps to make their attacks more efficient. She did not enjoy the fact that they were at war, but she enjoyed walking around on patrol while they were at war even less.

Right, patrol,she needed to get back to observing the surrounding area.

Trying to focus on her surroundings did not actually help her expect Toshiro's sudden arrival in front of her, causing her to jump back slightly and draw her zanpakuto.

"Who are you?"

"I confessed to you on a hill we could see fireworks during an event neither of us wanted to go to."

"You also bought me this red clip I'm wearing because it can turn into a sword and help in combat. It was the only one I liked when we went into the store."

She and Toshiro both relaxed as they confirmed who the other was. At times like this she wished it was possible to just _know_ when the person in front of you was the one you love like she had seen in some of Yuzu's sappy romance dramas.

Well, technically, she could sense his reiatsu, but they did not know if the rebels had some way to imitate signatures.(1) Besides, Karin was humble enough to admit she was really, _really_ bad at sensing reiatsu.

"Karin, I just got a hell butterfly from the third division. Their group and the assisting hollows have run across the black experiment that was stolen from the twelfth, all squad captains were asked to bring themselves and one other person to help."

"Do we know this isn't a diversion?"

"No, so everyone else has been sent hell butterflies to be on high alert. There's no time to waste," Without hesitation, Toshiro immediately flash stepped toward the designated area and Karin followed, mentally reviewing what she had been told about the twelfth experiment only a little while ago.

First, she remembered that it was capable of destroying souls if it enveloped them. She also remembered it was meant to be capable of purifying hollows so the poorer districts would be safe, but was still incomplete. Then how to destroy it…

Ah, yes, you use the 'Ichigo approach' and crush it with reiatsu once it tries to capture you. That must be why so many different high-ranking people were needed, the more reiatsu the better.

Karin stopped, suspended in the air several dozen feet from the ground. She glanced around and took about as much time as you would expect it to take to find a giant black cloud in the middle of a town. Moving closer, she noticed the surrounding shinigami were still helping move civilians out of the way while the rest fought the cloud. She could help with tha-

In a heartbeat Karin's eyes widened as she noticed the cloud moving towards a civilian who had broken his leg. The cloud was seconds away from reaching him, and no one else had noticed. Another heartbeat. Would she even be able to make it in time? She was still the farthest away from the civilian. Another heartbeat rang in her ears. No time to hesitate.

Pushing herself forward with all of her strength, Karin was just barely able to push the civilian out of the way and let the cloud envelope her instead. It was… surprisingly solid inside. More like it was made of slime or mud than air. It was good Yuzu was not one of the ones who had to do this, she would find it disgusting. Karin, however, had a much larger tolerance to things like this after her childhood days of playing soccer with a group of boys.

So…

Suddenly unleashing her reiatsu and allowing it to reach its peak, she saw the shadow seemingly flinch away from her power as if burned and begin disintegrating as her reishi came into contact with it. After all the time she had spent trying to control her reiatsu to improve in kido, it was kinda… fun to just let it all go without restraint.

A concentrated vibrant red light formed around her from the power she was giving off and she noticed how similar the color was to the jewel on the clip she was wearing. It was almost… not necessarily alluring, but… captivating.

A loud, startling pop ended the moment and as Karin refocused she noticed she had destroyed- _burned_ \- the piece of the cloud that had tried to absorb her. Glancing over, she felt for his reiatsu and noticed Toshiro had finally arrived, and his icy blue easily driving the shadow away, burning in the way only a sudden ice burn can. .

Time for more thoughts later. Karin turned towards the man in front of her who was staring at her with adoration and… was that recognition she saw from him?

Yes, it was. And soon she realized why he looked oddly familiar to her. It was one of the people she had saved in the mountains while on her vacation with Toshiro. It looked like he was about to say something, but Karin snapped out of her thoughts realizing the situation was not the right time for a chat.

Grabbing the boy's arm, Kairn flash stepped towards the clearing where civilians were being kept and shouted some instructions to the boy which included 'don't leave here', 'help only if you can' and 'follow what the captains and lieutenants tell you' before returning to battle with the shadow. Glancing back, she noticed with a smile that the man was hobbling away as he guided several other souls towards the shinigami. He was fine then, Karin could get back to the fight.

While the shadow itself left no marks, Karin knew her uniform was steadily becoming covered in sweat, ash and dust. Rangiku was going to faint as soon as she laid eyes on Karin.

"The civilians have been evacuated!" Toshiro suddenly yelled, probably having sensed there were no non-shinigami souls left in the area. It was convenient having one of the best reiatsu sensors- if that was a work- present. Karin briefly wondered if she would be able to convince Toshiro to use his ability to trick her brother into-

A fleeing shinigami knocked down a large tree branch in their haste to escape, causing it to fall directly on top of Karin. Reflex taking over, Karin instantly reacted by flash stepping away from the falling branch to an empty street. Annoyance flashed through her expression for a brief second before she smoothed it over, taking some advice Toshiro had previously given her to help her calm down for battle.

She continued to bounce slightly, remaining light on her feet and prepared to dodge even as she relaxed and tried to push the idiotic officer- a man Karin _knew_ was used to working alone, why was he here?- out of her mind. In less than a handful of seconds, she felt her mind refocus and resumed destroying pieces of the twelfth's _lovely_ experiment.

To her slight surprise, Karin noticed several hollows had joined the battle. It seemed like it was mostly the more combat-loving and bloodthirst ones, but she would take all the help they could get.

By now there were about twenty souls present who were actively working on destroying pieces of the shadow, giving the people who arrived at the start some time to breathe. Karin had stepped back to catch her breath a bit and was soon joined by a less exhausted but still worn Toshiro.

"How're you doing?"

"I am fine," Toshiro paused, seemingly lost in thought for a moment. "I think we reacted as well as we could have, but it annoys me that anyone watching now knows exactly what our plan is for situations like this."

"Wasn't a diversion then?" (2)

"Doesn't seem like it. A few people were sent to some of our larger bases, but they weren't especially strong or a large group. We have to stay on defense for now, so them sending these smaller tests is not helping."

"What about this shadow thing? Wouldn't they want to save it?"

"Not if they can split pieces of it off. There is no obvious or definite mass, so they can just take a piece of it and place it somewhere for an attack. Annoying."

Karin, for one, wholeheartedly agreed. She hated that they were being forced on the defensive, especially because she felt like Soul Society's offense was so much stronger.

"How much time do you think it will take the second division to find one of their bases?"

"I don't know, but if I had to guess it shouldn't take more than a few months. The rebels, unfortunately, are doing a rather good job of hiding even as they recruit people from the rukongai. Our main saving grace is that they would most likely have had far more volunteers just a decade or two ago."

Karin glanced over, thinking about the last point Toshiro had brought up. "Do you think it is possible we'll eventually be able to remove all the rebellions in Soul Society? You know, make it how people who are alive tend to dream of their afterlife being when they die; paradise."

"...I don't think that- so long as there are human souls present- will ever be possible, but I feel like we will drastically lower the number of them, depending on how well we do. Besides, even if I'm wrong and we don't end up changing anything I feel like this will still have been a worthwhile use of our resources and time."

Karin smiled, "Alright then, whatever you say captain." Standing on her tiptoes- she missed when they were the same height- Karin kissed his cheek. "I'll be heading back to work now, see you later!"

A slightly blushing Toshiro was left behind as Karin returned to destroy sections of the experiment. They were almost done and there was a low body count on the shinigami's side, but Karin knew the strategists of Soul Society would consider this battle to be a loss for the information the rebels got. Hopefully that would not mean they would be forced to go through even more training than usual- she liked it, but too much was too much.

Karin would have sighed if she was not busy fighting; when did this become her life?

Actually that was a dumb question; it became her life (death) when her brother became the universe's' strongest (alive) ghost.

* * *

Kanna stared down from her hiding spot in shock. It had not been a complicated plan; just take a piece of the experiment, put it in a random town, and observe the way the shinigami reacted. When the general public saw how they were being abandoned by the shinigami, they would naturally flock to the right side of the war. They would get a read on how skilled the shinigami were at battling the experiment and they would gain more people who believed in their cause; two birds with only one stone. When her leader had proposed the plan, both Kanna and Takahiro had agreed that it seemed like a perfect use of their resources. And they were right, the plan had gone exactly as expected. And yet…

And yet the shinigami had _not_ abandoned the poorer districts to suffer the attack; they had instead sent some of their strongest fighters. It was, strategically, better for Kanna's group because it gave them insight into how some of the strongest fighters handled the situation, but it put Kanna at a bit of a loss. Then there was the fact that they were being helped by hollows- _hollows_! How could that have even been suggested?!- who took part in defending from the attack just as much as the shinigami did. Kanna was not quite sure how to react to that.

In addition, despite having a broken leg one of the civilians Karin had saved was guiding the other souls to the shinigami. Kanna remembered how just a few decades ago the civilians would have simply run away, not trusting the shinigami to keep them or their families safe.

The only thing that reinforced Kanna's beliefs was the poor quality of the houses in the area. It made her feel guilty at how grateful she was that there was still something that proved her beliefs were right, even if it meant others had to suffer. Spending time in the Seireitei, she had seen how nice the buildings were, showing that the homeless people here were obviously being oppressed by the government.

At the very least, it reaffirmed Kanna's belief that they would be able to do a better job taking care of the public than the soul reapers could.

As the battle began winding down, Kanna stopper the recording she was taking and left; hoping to avoid a conflict which would undoubtedly erupt if she was found. It would be better for her to not think about whether she was in the right, now that she knew hesitation would only get her killed. The sight of both Karin and Toshiro defending the people in the town _she_ was attacking was also something she pushed out of her mind for the time being.

She had work to do and could not afford to be distracted.

* * *

The last of the experiment surrounded Toshiro, who easily overwhelmed it with his power. Though his eyes were emitting a slight glow from his continued use of reiatsu, he actually did not appear overly tired. A flash appeared beside him and Karin emerged from her shunpo to stand beside him.

"Paperwork now?"

A small smile appeared on his face, even as he raised his eyebrow. "It's part of the job, I refuse to allow you to turn into another Matsumoto when it comes to paperwork."

"I'm pretty sure that's impossible, she does the most unbelievable things if she think it will allow her to avoid the stuff. She might actually put more effort into hiding from it than it would take to just finish the work."

"I suppose so," Toshiro acknowledged with a slight laugh. "But no, another captain offered to take the paperwork over because they arrived before I did. Would you like to do something… together?"

"Shiro, I hope you're aware that your skill at asking your girlfriend out on a date is only a little above that of your ability to ask me to be your girlfriend."

"You don't exactly make it any easier when you say things like that."

His last comment got a completely genuine smile from Karin, who responded, "I guess. Anyways, I'd be happy to head back to the division if patrol is being taken care of and just spend some time with you."

"Sure, a little while ago I got a hell butterfly that said all those who were in the recent battle will be given some time to rest and recover before being expected to patrol again. I believe we have until tomorrow at 9:00 am."

The thought of actually being able to sleep in again sounded like a godsend to Karin and she silently thanked the soul king. It had been literally years since the last time she was allowed to sleep in before work; being dead turned out to require a surprising amount of effort 24/7.

Both she and Toshiro quickly flash stepped back to the barrack- essentially Toshiro's home and Karin's home away from home (Shiba manor)- where they both moved to their dorms to take a shower. As Karin felt the warm water running through her hair she briefly wondered about her place in the whole mess of a war. She knew Kanna and Takahiro better than pretty much any other shinigami- barring Toshiro- but would that make it a better or worse decision to have her fight one of them from a tactical standpoint? While Karin knew part of her wanted to, caused by a mix of pride, anger and desire for revenge, she also knew part of her would have mixed feelings about seriously attacking and trying to injure someone who was once her friend.

She supposed it might turn out to be a question of the strength of her loyalty to the idea of improving Soul Society the way she and Toshiro were trying to. If they could not, it just meant their personal loyalty to their 'friends' was stronger. She was not quite sure how to feel about this conclusion.

After exiting the shower Karin dressed in more comfortable clothing and walked out to meet with her boyfriend. When she stepped into his dorm she noticed he was also dressed in less martial clothing, barring, of course, his zanpakuto. She knew her reiatsu had announced her presence to him, regardless of how silent she was trained to make her footsteps, and gave him a small smile when he glanced up to see her.

"Ready to eat?" Karin asked, absent-mindedly rubbing a bruise on her arm. The unconscious action immediately attracted Toshiro's attention, and he beckoned her to the couch to apply some healing kido.

"I am, though I'd prefer eating something light."  
"Obviously," Karin easily agreed, "I still have no idea why Soul Society's nobles expect us to enjoy eating such fancy, creamy foods when we come to their parties. It's like they think we're decoration pieces who don't legitimately need to be ready to fight at a moments notice."

"I hope you're aware that _you_ are one of those nobles."  
"Then maybe I'm a hypocrite, who knows. Though in my defense it's pretty much universally agreed that the Shiba clan is better about things like that."

"While that's true, not everyone would describe it as 'better' about it." Karin let out a quiet chuckle as he finished performing the last bits of healing on her arm. The sun had already set and being healed usually made her slightly drowsy, so she yawned and tried blinking the sleepiness out of her eyes.

"Hey, Shiro, can I rest on you?"

"...If you want to."

Having gotten the permission she was looking for, Karin laid her head on her boyfriend's shoulder and closed her eyes. Soon she noticed Toshiro lean against the back of the couch and rest his own head on hers. Their breathing evened out and as time dragged on they started to fall asleep.

"Karin."  
"...Yeah?" Toshiro chuckled a little at the exhaustion he could hear in her voice, but was smart enough to know not to comment on it out loud.

"We should try to eat something before sleeping, why don't we just have a tiny bit of fruit and then go to bed?" After considering his offer for a moment Karin cracked her eyes open and sent him a small glare.

"Do you have to be so responsible all the damn time? I really rather we just stay here."

"Well?"

A long, drawn out, accepting sigh came from Karin. "Yeah, we probably should."

With a smile, Toshiro helped her stand up as she shook the last of the sleep from her brain and they walked together to the small kitchen Matsumoto used in their office.

"What's in here?"

"I don't know, I suppose we'll have to see." Karin sent him a raised eyebrow at his answer and seemed to be trying desperately not to laugh at him.

"It's a kitchen in _your_ office and you don't know what's inside? It's official, you've upgraded to the mastery of being a workaholic, none can possibly surpass you skill."

"Can we just get some food."

"'Food', you say, when you don't even know-"

"Would you like some food?"

"That'd be great, captain." Toshiro opened the small fridge to find an assortment of foods that fell into categories of 1) practical, 2) foreign or 3) weird. Luckily, the practical category included fruits like apples and Asian pear, so Toshiro cautiously skipped past anything he did not know to grab what he did.

Karin happily took the fruit and they ate together in silence for a while, glancing through mission reports they both needed to see and sign. Eventually, as Karin finished and threw away her fruit, she lost patience and snatched the paper out of Toshiro's hands, causing him to jump slightly.

"Karin? What-"

"We were given some time off, we've both done some work, now we need to stop or we're both going to turn into workaholics. It's getting late, we don't need to be there right away in the morning, we can finish tomorrow. I'm making it my job to make sure you get a full night of sleep for once in your life."

"But-"

"I promise I'll help you with your paperwork tomorrow, now off to bed."

"...Right."

* * *

Toshiro sat on his bed next to Karin as they checked their soul phones to make sure no catastrophic emergency had occurred while they had dinner- unlikely, but you never really know with Soul Society. Seeing that the world was still mostly intact, they set their phones down for charging and were about to walk into their rooms when Karin suddenly stopped.

"Hey… Shiro…" Unused to hearing hesitancy from her, Toshiro immediately stopped walking and turned around. After staring at the ground for several seconds, Karin looked up and met his eyes. "We have… rare circumstances right now where neither of us have anything to do and it's night. We could… I mean, would you like to sleep together?"

"You mean… sexually?" Toshiro asked, a light blush on his face which Karin could see even in the dim light.

"...Yeah. I don't want to do anything you're not all for, but it was something… I wouldn't mind- not with you- and we don't usually have the opportunity to do something like that."

For all that she was more comfortable than Toshiro with sex from her time in the twenty-first century, even she had trouble with something as personal as this. Her body having all the hormones of a seventeen-year-old also did not help.

Toshiro closed his eyes and thought about her proposal. Considering all her points, it could be a good idea… it was not like he _never_ wanted to have sex with her, it was more a question of if now was the right time. They could avoid getting Karin pregnant, but it would still undoubtedly change their relationship- though not necessarily in a bad way.

But then he considered the rebellion. True, rebellions were happening practically every other day in Soul Society, but the two of them were unusually connected to this one. They both had a job to, and neither would be happy with their choice if they stopped being able to do their job and protect people.

It was the last thought that made his decision.

"Karin… I know I want to sleep with you sometime… but I just don't think now is the right time. Not with everything that's happening and with Kanna... I feel like we need to wait a little while longer. Besides, while it's an old idea in the current world of the living, I grew up in a time when it was a bit odd for someone to have sex before they're married." Despite all his dedication towards what he was saying, he looked up hesitantly, trying to assess Karin's reaction.

Karin looked bright red, embarrassment covering her features. She quickly turned to the floor and took a tentative step back, refusing to look up and meet his eyes.

"Right- I mean, sorry I didn't- I should have known- I didn't mean to imply or pressure you into anything."

"Karin." The word cut her off from her rambling and she glanced up, calming down slightly and regaining some of her confidence. "It's fine, I had to think about it too. I just don't want us to worry about it until we're… _not_ in the middle of destroying a rebellion. I think I'd like to talk about this again afterwards."

Relaxing completely, Karin nodded and smiled. "Well then, we should probably go to bed."

"Would you like to sleep in the same room again? I mean- only if you want to."

"Like we did when I had those dreams?" Toshiro nodded, hoping she would not be offended, "Sure, might as well do something unusual to celebrate getting some time off."

The air between them was still slightly awkward, but the tension slowly left their stances and they both laid down next to each other. As they made eye contact on the bed a flash of understanding passed between them and the awkward atmosphere vanished, allowing sleep to finally overwhelm them.

* * *

1) I just feel like this makes sense. If you can feel reiatsu a ways around that person, you can probably cover yourself in an imitation like you could for a disguise. I don't know, maybe that's just me who thinks that.

2) I'll be perfectly honest, I'm definitely not an expert on war. Part of the problem is how, in the manga, the winter war lasted for a matter of months and really only included two simultaneous battles while in the thousand year blood war we only really saw the soldier side, not the tactician side. Anyways, I think what I'm saying makes sense, but if someone knows what I'm having the characters do is illogical from a war standpoint then please don't expect it from me. I am but a normal person who does not have much knowledge of how armies look at war.


	36. Chapter 36

The next morning, Toshiro woke up by 6:00, as usual, and got out of bed to change. After a few minutes, Karin's mental clock, which was also programed to wake her up early, allowed her to start blinking the sleep from her eyes and get up. She sat up in her bed and stretched, then joined her boyfriend in getting ready for the day.

"So, what does the beloved captain have on his schedule for today?" Karin asked as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail. After a second of debating, she decided to also add her red clip; hoping she would have time to practice with it later.

"I still need to be on alert and ready to come help if I receive word that one of the groups had encountered something, but I think I'll be able to spend some time working on more personal projects. If it's possible, I'll try to ask that girl, Sensai, to help me with something."

"Sensai is the girl who's pretty good at using kido to build things, right? We saw her on the bridge while we were all trying to fix the damage done to the King's realm?"

"Right. I'm going to ask her if she can use her abilities to fix up some houses in the lower districts of the Ryukongai. It would make the area much safer. I told the Soutaicho and he's giving me some 'paid leave' to work on this."

"Will you add any kido protections for them?"

"We'll see, I'm still going to be a bit busy so I might not have time. It seems likely I'll just end up doing that for the worst districts and then keep working on that when this whole situation has passed. Besides, the more time I spend fixing houses with kido the less we're going to actually get done."

"Sounds good."

Karin finished dressing and then joined Toshiro in the kitchen, where he had already prepared a simple breakfast for them. He refused to allow Karin to go into the kitchen to cook after an incident which resulted in her and Matsumoto destroying a room while trying to cook some rice (but it was not _Karin's_ fault she ended up with none of her sister or brother's talent in cooking, she did not ask to be stuck with her father's ability). Though Toshiro's food was pretty good, so if she got that for free she would not complain.

"And what will you be doing today?" Toshiro asked as he handed her food over. "I know you have more patrol-" -Karin gave a long groan and a sigh- "-but you switch off with someone later. What will you do with that free time?"

"Hmm, I don't think I have anything planned so I might just join you. It'd be kinda cool to see houses being built and, if nothing else, I can help supply reiatsu."

"That would actually be great, I was planning on doing about the same thing, but I might get called away at any moment. Of course, you can be called away too, but it would be easier if you came."

Karin nodded with a smile. Sensai had the skill and technique to create the houses, but not the reiatsu that would be required for constructing something with that much mass out of reishi. The only way for that to not be a problem would be for someone else to supply her with the power she needed, in this case, Karin and Toshiro.

"Say, Shiro, do you know anything about if the second division has found a trail to the base. I mean, they've had a few months, so I'm sure they're much farther now."

"I was discussing with Soi-fon a short while ago and I believe they have crossed out almost every district as a possible hiding place. I highly doubt they will need much more time to find it."

"And then maybe this will all finally be over."

"Actually you might have to stay on patrol for a little while longer as we make sure that there are no remaining rebels we missed. I think we can all agree on doing a little more to ensure Soul Society is as safe as it can possibly be."

"...Are you going to say that purposefully?" Karin's question caused Toshiro to look at her in confusion, though, with his love of politics, she could not tell if it was genuine. "This whole thing reads like petty revenge or teasing. Just so we're clear, if I find out you made me go on patrol for longer than I actually had to I'm going to burn all your paperwork and give Matsumoto access to one of the Shiba sake cabinets."

She could not be sure with how white his skin already was, but it looked to Karin like Toshiro had paledat her threat.

"...I'll... keep that in mind."

* * *

Toshiro landed on the outskirts of a small Ryukongai village with a silent flash of shunpo. He was immediately followed by Sensai, who he had to catch to keep from tripping over her own feet as she landed.

"Did we... " gasp "... have to…" pant "... go so fast?"

"I apologize, but if we want to get enough done we need to move that fast. Would you prefer if I carried you when we leave? You'll already be low on reiatsu so it might be an idea worth considering."

The distance from the barrack to the village was fairly short, so Toshiro had not seen a need to assist Sensai in reaching it. A sudden realization that him spending so much time with just Karin had caused him to forget the strain certain actions would cause other shinigami. He briefly clenched his fists in determination; he could not forget again.

"I, I would… I think that, I, I would like that" gasp "sir."

With a casual wave in her direction, Toshiro lowered the temperature of the air around Sensai, causing her to relax and begin fanning herself with her hand. Then, pulling out his soul phone, Toshiro checked the time and saw they still had an hour or so before Karin would be able to arrive. An irrational flash of longing for her appeared and he remembered the kiss they shared before they left for their specific tasks that morning.

Honestly, it was only a few hours, was he so reliant on her presence he could not even last that long? Luckily, his thoughts had taken just enough time for Sensai to rejuvenate. It was less time than he had expected, but he knew the cooler air was coated with his reishi, making it even easier for her to recover than normal. (1)

"Ready?"

"Yes." The two of them began walking to one of the most destroyed houses, attracting quite a few odd looks on the way. It confused Toshiro slightly that the townspeople seemed to think they could watch the shinigami without being noticed from behind objects, but he assumed they forgot shinigami could sense reiatsu.

Sensai stood in front of the building and mentally reviewed the instructions Toshiro had given her before they left. Use her kido to create the materials needed. Form them over the pieces of the building. Start from the ground up to keep it from falling. Let Toshiro use kido to put reiatsu in her body whenever she got tired. She took a deep breath, she could do this.

Placing her hands in front of her, she briefly flooded the air with reishi before taking control and guiding it to the shape she wanted over the pitiful piece of wood which served as the shack's front door. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed with slight discomfort that the citizens flinched away from her power despite her only using it on an abandoned shed.

Soon, the piece she wanted was complete and she allowed her reiatsu to harden into a solid object. For this house, she chose a form of wood as the material for her reishi for turn into.(2)

Despite not having used that much power- she was so practiced in this she could practically do it in her sleep- Sensai let out a sigh of relief when she finished re-creating and strengthening the wall. It was the first sign she had- other than Toshiro's assurance- that she would actually be able to do this.

With a slight smile on her face, Sensai began covering, solidifying and strengthening the other three walls of the shed before going to the roof and fixing that. The large number of holes she found gave an explanation to the large puddles of water she had seen inside the shed.

She sucked in a large gasp of air as she finished, pride resonating through her being. Taking in a full look at her accomplishment, she beamed with joy encompassing her every action. Suddenly, she noticed Toshiro re-filling her reishi storage with his own power and that sense of sugar-high elation increased.

Then, Toshiro turned to the surrounding crowd, who had started to come out of their hiding spaces from behind the walls. "I am Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of squad ten. We are here to provide assistance by fixing the construction, does anyone have a building they believe needs to be fixed due to being a danger to those living inside of it? I apologize, but we are not interested in houses that are simply uncomfortable. Do you have any that are an actual danger?"

"U-um…" a small girl walked up, clutching her ripped and beaten teddy bear. "I have a house… it, I, it… the roof has started falling in chunks and it sways when there's too much wind."

Toshiro knelt down next to the girl, his face dawning a relaxed smile Sensai had never seen on him before. He waved his hand, muttering kido and fixed the largest rip in the stuffed animal the girl held.

"We'd be happy to if you could just show us the way."

Relaxing, the little girl brightened, running back to a boy who seemed to be her brother and guiding them to a barely-standing house. There were several other children inside, and Toshiro set to work clearing them out so she could start.

Seeing the apprehensive hope in their expressions, Sensai felt a sudden wave of gratitude spread through her. Walking up to Toshiro- the so-called ice captain who she had both been terrified of and respected but had believed in all the same- she leaned over and whispered, "Thank you. For giving me a chance to do this. I- this is… thank you for believing in me and letting me help these kids." For believing I could make a difference when no one else did, she thought but did not say.

He glanced over, the usual self-assured and confident look from his time as a captain shining in his eyes. "It's no problem. Really. You're doing most of the work in the first place, and I chose you because, from what I've seen so far, you're the best. Then again, this is only the first house in the first village, we have a long way to go."

The fact that _Toshiro Hitsugaya_ , the famous prodigy and youngest captain in the history of the Court Guard Squads, was the one telling her this made Sensai have a bit of trouble believing it- the idea that she was _the best_ could not really be proven- but it made her smile all the same.

Then again, he had a point. It was a bit early to be giving 'thank you's when she had only just started. Briefly stretching her arms, Sensai moved with an unusual amount of confidence toward the house.

* * *

"Wonderful job." Toshiro complimented her as they finished the last dangerous house in the village. Sensai knew she would not have been able to without the reiatsu Toshiro had supplied her, but found the captain still looked as relaxed as ever. Had she really taken such a small part of his power?

"Yup, I'm kinda impressed you guys were able to do this so well. Nice work." Sensai gave a small jump of surprise and she turned around to find Karin staring at the last house they worked on. Toshiro- who had not even reacted, of course he knew she was there- smiled at her and walked closer giving her a quick kiss.

"You're finished?"

"No, I'm just skipping patrol because it bored me and this seemed more interesting."

The temperature gave a sudden drop and Sensai shivered as she saw her breath leave her mouth.

"Oh my god Shiro. Yes, _obviously_ I'm done. _Chill_."

"That's not funny."

"Oh, it totally is."

Toshiro rolled his eyes, but there was no doubting the affecting Sensai could see in them. As he pulled out his soul phone Karin leaned her head on his shoulder, staring at the map which appeared. Toshiro scrolled through for a moment as Sensai tried to look at the screen without being as openly forward as Karin.

"We have a few more houses we can work on from what I've seen of this village, but I don't think there are any nearby villages in quite as bad of a state. It seems there were quite a few attack from hollows in this specific area about fifteen years ago. The other villages are fine, so we might go back after we're done here."

Sensai could- to her slight surprise- see the annoyance that appeared for a second on the captain's face when he said 'fifteen years ago'. She supposed it seemed bad, but in all honesty she was pretty sure that even just fifteen years ago the Seireitei would not have cared about one small village beyond 'have we dealt with all the hollows?' so it made sense that it took so long for someone to come along and try to fix the place.

"Actually, it might be a good idea for us to stop here first," Karin disagreed as she pointed towards a spot on the map. "I heard some souls gather around there and form a sort of market which has a few buildings people go into for trade or to store stuff. It's far enough away that it seems unlikely a shinigami would've noticed if it _had_ been attacked."

Toshiro nodded and then turned to Sensai, who had been standing on her tiptoes in front of him trying to see over the screen. She blushed and immediately stepped back, staring at the ground with the hopes of not meeting either shinigami's eyes. Said shinigami turned toward each other with a smile (Toshiro) and a smirk of amusement (Karin).

When she saw something move in front of her Sensai lifted her head up to see Toshiro's phone being displayed so she could see. He moved the map around as he began to explain his mindset.

"These two villages are shopped at by nobles occasionally, so any damages would have been reported- for the safety of the heads, if nothing else. This one here is used by the second division for hiding supplies-" "-don't ask how or where, we have no idea either-" "- _Thank you_ Karin. As I was saying, the second division uses this area, and I know they deal with most hollows which come that way too. No damage has been reported, so we know it's fine."

"And what about the marketplace we're going to?"

Here, Karin answered as she stepped beside Sensai and began directing the screen to show the area she wanted. "To be honest, it's not really a market place. I think it used to be a village, but then after a natural disaster or hollow attack or something it was abandoned. Then, two people agreed to meet there for trade every Sunday and more people started coming for trade and to buy things, turning it into a market. It's just… there's no actual building owned by anyone and no noble that's sponsoring the event by guarding it."

Sensai nodded, knowing a place that was a bit like that near where she had grown up. If there was something she could do to fix the place up she would be more than happy to.

"You know a lot about it for it just being a place you 'heard about'," Toshiro commented, raising an eyebrow in Karin's direction. She smirked and gave her shoulders a careless shrug.

"I 'heard about it' from Rangiku."

"Ah."

Sensai was still a little confused what the Lieutenant of the tenth division had to do with Karin's knowledge, but she was content just knowing she would be able to help out the marketplace so she wrote the thought off.

Toshiro put his phone away and moved to pick Sensai up- their previous journey together having taught him the limits of her stamina- when Karin stopped him.

"Let me do that, you're probably still tired from helping her by giving up your reiatsu. We're just carrying her to the next stop so she doesn't run out of power, right?"

"Yes, but I'm really perfectly fine. It wasn't much power-"

" _Let. Me. Do. This._ "

"I, well, if you don't mind then… I suppose it's fine."

Karin smirked and picked Sensai up princess style, surprising the later slightly at her strength. In the next second, Sensai blushed, realizing how embarrassing it would have been to have the captain hold her like this. She silently thanked Karin's foresight as they began moving to the marketplace.

As Sensai looked around the area they landed she was filled with a strong sensation of wonder. Most of Soul Society- especially the Seireitei- was annoyingly dry; with dust, dirt paths and a few trees sprinkled around in groves. It was nice enough that she would never accept another place as home, but it could get slightly annoying.

Here, however, there was water constantly being sprayed into the air by the wind from a nearby lake. The forest here was thicker than almost every other place she had seen in Soul Society. It felt… more alive than the rest of the place (despite also being part of the afterlife. It was annoying how everyone still used phrases from when they were human here, it made everything so confusing) and Sensai loved it.

It was perfect… except for several small sheds which had been used to store goods lying broken on the ground. There were tracks and footprints from the hollows who- presumably- attacked the area and several of the trees had been knocked down. Sensai was just glad there were no traces of blood, even if any blood that _was_ there would have long since dissolved into reishi.

"We should probably start by fixing the closest sheds and moving around to the outer ones. Would that be okay?" She was so lost in thought it took Sensai a moment to process what Toshiro had just asked her. Then she looked over and realized she had paused for too long as he stood waiting for her answer.

"Hm? Oh, ye- of cour- yes, sir! I mean- there's no problem. I'd be happy to do that." Third seat Karin Kurosaki looked way too amused by her stuttering for Sensai to feel comfortable.

"Why don't I supply her with reiatsu now?" Karin suggested, "We can switch off for each shed she makes. It'll probably make us last longer, especially if we're not that tired when we take a break to regain energy."

"That sounds good, I'll go see how far the market lasts. Call me if you need anything."

"I got it, don't worry. Though I promise if something really goes wrong I'll scream and you can come save me like a knight in shining armor… Is that what you wanted to hear, captain?"

Toshiro rolled his eyes, but waved them off as he turned and began walking in the opposite direction. Karin turned to Sensai as she led the other girl towards the closest shed.

"So, I'm not anywhere near as good as Shiro is at kido, but I'm pretty sure I'm good enough at reiatsu manipulation to do this with no problems. Just tell me if I'm sending you too much power at once, okay?"

Sensai nodded and got into position. Karin placed a hand on her back and waited for her to start reconstructing the shed which lay broken in front of her.

With a deep breath Sensai began, molding her reiatsu into the kind of shape and structure she wanted the building to be. Shortly after she began she felt Karin begin to send reishi into her and had to hold back a gasp. The only reason she succeeded was because she had already felt Toshiro's.

Where Toshiro had been a blizzard- his icy reiatsu causing her to shiver as she felt his unstoppable power rage like endless winds and suffocating her like an avalanche- Karin's was like a forest fire- raging, burning, spreading, growing, yet just as fierce as the blizzard had been. Their powers were both unrestrained and free. Toshiro's control meant he never allowed anyone to feel that uncontrollable nature unless he wanted them to; not that it was not there.

Feeling it was… almost exhilarating.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, Sensai continued to work on reconstructing the house. The more she practiced working on the larger buildings the easier and faster it became, though that might just be because she was getting used to having reiatsu supplied to her on demand.

This time it took her only around forty five minutes to finish the building and she stepped back to admire her work. Karin and Toshiro both seemed to be happy with their progress, so they moved to the next house and continued. After several hours and a dozen more buildings the group decided the market was pretty much perfect.

Toshiro then told them to take a small break.

As Sensai was walking around the desolate market she saw a flash of bright red hidden behind a shed she had worked on. She immediately walked towards it and realized it was a ball that must have been left one of the days the market was open. She reached down and picked it up.

Karin, who had noticed her suddenly vere off track, walked up to her to see what she had found. When the third seat realized it was a ball her expression turned pleased.

"Where'd you find that?"

"It was behind the shed. What do you think we should do with it, we can't just leave it. That would be littering…" Sensai shifted back and forth between her feet as she debated what could be done.

"Why don't we play with it? We can add kido to it for whatever game we're playing and then eventually the reishi will disintegrate if we add too much power."

"It will?" Sensai asked. While she did not have much power, she did practice with kido quite often and was surprised she had never heard of such a thing before. Then Karin's expression turned slightly embarrassed and Sensai realized Karin might have seen it happen to her more than once.

"I mean sure, sounds like fun. What do you want to play?"

Soon they delved into a game of shooting the ball at each other using kido and waiting for it to disintegrate. Sensai's biggest worry was that Karin would cause it to blow up, but for the time being that did not seem to be a problem.

Toshiro was looking at the map and checking out the areas they could legally fix for the time being. He would have to talk to Yoruichi Shihoin (and her brother) and Byakuya Kuchiki soon. The only reason it was fine for him to work on this area was actually because it was Shiba territory and thus it had been easy to get permission. While the progress they had made today would certainly make it easier, it would be difficult to not accidentally offend the nobles.

Actually, Karin was fairly good at negotiating with the Shihouin clan after meeting, and then instantly bonding with, both the head of the clan and his older sister.

"Karin!" Said girl, who was still working on her game, caught the ball and looked over.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you'd be able to get the Shihoin clan to agree to letting us repair the houses in their territories? You're much closer to them than I am."

"Sure, that'd be easy. Now come over here."

Toshiro did a double take as he looked up from his papers with a hopelessly lost expression. "I'm sorry?"

"You can't spend all your time working. Come on, it'll be fun. Besides, I think I'm slacking on my 'let's get Toshiro to not work too much' plan so I need to get back on top of that."

"But-"

"You do realize if you overwork yourself and burn out you're not going to be able to get any work done, right?" Wow. That sealed the deal. Sensai had trouble believing Toshiro would argue with that. And, judging by the glare he sent towards Karin, he had also just realized that. Karin's smirk did not help either.

With a sigh and a mutter of, "This is completely stupid. I'm a captain, I shouldn't be playing…" Toshiro walked over to them and joined in their game. Unluckily for them, in terms of kido he had the power Sensai lacked and the control Karin lacked so the two of them ended up coming to a silent truce in their war against the captain.

Just as Sensai and Karin's alliance was finally starting to ensure their victory against the white-haired captain a hell butterfly arrived with a message for Toshiro. He reached his finger out and listened to the message, the tension which had disappeared during their game returning to his face.

"Shiro?"

"There's been another attack. It's far enough away we were not told to respond to it, but they want us to be on high alert. A half dozen souls were destroyed."

With those words the good mood instantly changed to a more somber tone. Where Karin was filled with anger, Toshiro was filled with guilt while Sensai felt both sorrow and fear. A minute of upset silence passed before Karin took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

"...Alright. Alright… were there any other instructions?"

"Just that we're still on leave for this, but they're requesting we keep our eyes open."

"Right… Well, it feels kinda bad to keep playing now, but we could take a walk together." Sensai relaxed slightly at hearing that; if Karin was not scared it would not help her to be. She nodded and followed the couple as they began to walk, gradually becoming more relaxed as time went on.

Sensai turned around and looked at the market. If she was going to die during this, at least she was able to do something special for people no other soul had done yet. She shook the thought from her mind, thinking like that was bad luck.

Still, she was proud of what they had been able to do and nothing would change that.

* * *

1) So I'm, once again, not completely sure about this. I feel like they mentioned once that, while Karakura town is mostly okay, the rest of the human world is stifling for shinigami in their gigais. They feel like they have trouble breathing because they're used to the reishi-rich environment of the seireitei. If that's the case, then surely Toshiro making the air cooler would add some of his reiatsu in would make it even more reishi dense and make it easier for Sensai to breathe. I don't know; maybe I missed something or it's just me.

2) I'll admit that part of the reason I'm doing this is because I've always been curious on how the souls could have a world with buildings when it's supposedly "made entirely of reishi". I guess it could work just like the real world, where they just wait for trees to grow and use that, but I like this idea better. If it was confusing she was sort of creating a better, thicker wall on top of the already existing thin one.


	37. Chapter 37

"...and resulted in twenty casualties on our side." Karin and Toshiro glanced at each other, angry expressions on both their faces. While it could be said that they were winning due to (usually) having less casualties than the rebels, it did not change the fact that souls were still being destroyed- forced into their second death.

Okay, that was not entirely fair; the rebels were using shinigami zanpakuto and kido to fight, and, regardless of how the zanpakuto were stolen and the kido was unpracticed, they still sent souls through the cycle of reincarnation. Toshiro was just glad that it had no chance of developing into _another_ thousand year blood war. One was more than enough for anyone, thank you. (Though at having this thought he felt a sudden wave of pity for the former Soutaicho).

The hell butterfly finished its report and dissolved, leaving Toshiro and Karin alone in his office. Toshiro closed his eyes, taking a moment to mourn for the souls who were lost in battle and noticed Karin doing the same. The two of them remained silent for a full minute before Karin stood up and grabbed Toshiro's attention.

"I'm going to go tell the other members of the group about this, I have patrol there soon anyway. Is there anything else you want me to tell them for you? Other than telling Rangiku not to drink, of course."

Toshiro's lips quirked up into a small smile but he shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm going to be meeting with some other captains now to see if we can pinpoint a pattern to the attack locations. I'll be in the first division if you suddenly need me for something, but I'd try not to interrupt us."

"Is it really a good idea for all the captains to be meeting in one place right now? If word gets out this might cause them to think this would be the perfect time to stage an attack…"

"Don't worry about that, I'll be one of the few there. The rest are going to listen and communicate through a shared video network from their group bases. I just happen to -unfortunately- be the captain most used to the world of the living so Kyoraku-soutaicho wants me to be there to give insight on whether a pattern could be the result of a base in the world of the living. No one else really knows how to navigate Japan's maps so I'm going to be asked to do that."

"Yikes, poor you. Well, I'll be sure to conduct a proper funeral for you when you get back from the torture of having to take a semi-active role in a captain meeting for possibly several hours. Would you prefer orange lilies or a candytuft or both for your funeral?"

"...Doesn't orange lily mean hatred in the language of the flowers?'

"Yup."

"...And candytuft mean indifference?"

"Well, if we both heard Rangiku tell us that it seems likely. So which one would you rather have? I'm afraid I have good information which states that all other flowers are going to be gone by then."

There was a long silence which stretched between them as Toshiro brought his hand to his face and covered his eyes before giving a long-suffering sigh. He glanced through cracks in his fingers.

"For a shinigami you are extremely rude when it comes to death. I feel like you got this sense of humor from Hirako-taichou, but at this point I honestly can't be sure you didn't already have it." As he spoke, he noticed Karin's smirk getting wider and her overall expression radiating vindictive pleasure. "I suppose I have to say I prefer hatred to indifference, even if I don't particularly like the color orange."

"Oh, why would you choose that? I honestly thought you'd pick the other one for how much it resembles your usual attitude when it comes to dealing with your squad."

"I wish I could be indifferent to all of you-" Karin smirked again, proud of her ability to teach her boyfriend her sense of humor "-but I also heard Matsumoto say hatred is the mirror image of love while indifference and apathy are the opposite. If I had to pick one, I suppose I can settle with that one."

"...You know, we don't really see her as often as we used to with this whole rebellion going on, but I feel like she taught both of us a hundred times more facts than what the academy did."

Toshiro found he could not actually come up with a reasonable argument to discredit that statement.

"Anyways, as fun as this has been, I should probably get going. I have patrol in, like, twenty minutes and need to tell everyone the results of the recent battles before then. I'll see you later."

Toshiro smiled and nodded to her before she vanished, her shunpo taking her to the tenth's districts in a matter of seconds. Another glance at the clock and Toshiro stood up, realizing he needed to get going to avoid being late for the captain's meeting. (Actually, he still had another thirty minutes, but, to him, being 'on time' was the same as being late).

(It made Karin occasionally want to strangle him).

* * *

When Toshiro landed in the meeting hall his first thought was on how many maps were in the room. Rolls of paper were scattered on practically every table they could be fit on and several were stacked on top of each other to fit more. He turned to Kyoraku, one eyebrow raised.

"Is it really necessary to have to many of these?"

"Well, I asked some of my subordinates to find you maps on the world of the living, but none of them have been on any missions there which lasted more than a day. They're not familiar with the geography… so they might have gone a little overboard in finding maps. It sort of depends how specific you want the maps to be."

Toshiro walked closer to a table and picked up one of the maps. On the top of the map were the words _Kingscote, Gloucestershire_. A quick search on his phone revealed to him that it was a village in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. Toshiro was, unfortunately, not very familiar with the country as England was relatively far from the current spiritual hotspot. Now that he thought of it, he was pretty sure no shinigami had really heard of this town before. So that begged the question;

"I… What exactly is the purpose of having a map on this? Won't keeping it here just make it that much harder to find the ones we need? I'm afraid I have trouble seeing the logic behind this."

"Yeah, I think you're right." Toshiro turned to Kyoraku with a disbelieving expression which his superior officer glanced away from as if a misbehaving child.

"Did _anyone_ supervise what was going on inside here while you were preparing for the meeting? I can't imagine more than a handful of people would make a mistake like this."

"Yeah, someone probably should've."

Toshiro's expression turned to a glare; for all that he respected the man and knew not to behave like this in public, he could get annoyingly Urahara-like vibes from his 'superior'.

"You know, Shiro-" the nickname earned him an even deadlier glare "I'm pretty sure you're the best in the Gotei Thirteen at organizing people like this and planning how you want things to be done,"

"Byakuya Kuchiki also possesses skill in that department."

"Yeah, but he already has a clan to take care of and such. You're also working on the rebuilding of houses in lower districts, so you have planning in that." Toshiro scowled, but did not object; he, Sensai and Karin had managed to get permission from both the Kuchiki's and Shihoin clan, allowing them to have finished Shihoin and Shiba territories. They would get started on the first section of Kuchiki territories in a few days.  
"Do you have a point you're trying to make?"

"Yes, I had an idea. Maybe it would be best if you took over planning meeting from now on. I mean, Yama-jii did that before, but he was also the best at it. I personally think everyone would agree you'd be a better choice. You could just check in with me on what I want and handle the rest!"

Toshiro stared- half worried over the Soutaicho's mental health and half worried over his _own_ mental health. Surely he just heard wrong or was in the middle of a hallucination, Kyoraku could not mean it.

Yes, the points he brought up did make sense, and yes, Toshiro would be the best choice for it, and yes, it was the kind of idea Kyoraku would come up with and be completely serious about… but why would that be a good idea? He was one of twelve captains, would giving him extra authority cause issues and distrust among them? This was quite possibly the worst time for distrust among the captains, why would he bring it up now?  
However, even as he stared and blinked Kyoraku continued standing in front of him with a carefree smile, his wide-brimmed hat dipping slightly to cover his eyes in a far too Urahara Kisuke-like manner. Come to think of it, they had been spending a lot of time together recently whenever Kyoraku wanted to reach Ichigo and company.

"...Why don't we get started with what we _actually_ planned on having a meeting for and then we can worry about that later. After the meeting we can suggest the idea and see what the other captains think." Toshiro felt captains like Kurotsuchi-taichou, Soi-Fon or Byakuya Kuchiki would be the most strongly outspoken against the idea, so at least he would have some backup in convincing Kyoraku.

The screens surrounding them suddenly flickered to life as the other captains began to connect the calls. As Kyoraku began his introduction Toshiro searched through the maps to find the most relevant ones.

Actually, the job reminded him of something Karin had told him once about her time in the world of the living; whenever she had far too many useless papers to get through a presentation, she would fish around for an semi-important one and explain the rest of what she wanted to say from memory.

Toshiro had always pre-planned and created presentations exactly how he wanted them to be, but he supposed it would be worth it to try. He remembered the map of Japan he had looked at for missions, so once he found a larger, less specific map of the country he set it down and unrolled it.

"...and for this we will mostly be using information from the second division, but any other information squads have found will be valued. We are fairly certain the base is in the world of the living, please speak out if you know anything," Kyoraku continued as Toshiro began listening to his introductory speech. "I have maps of the larger world, so I'd like to start off with any larger areas of land you think we can cross off. Countries or even continents would be best."

Toshiro saw Soi-fon nod and pull up papers while he pulled out a notebook to write down the checked areas. She cleared her throat and stepped forward slightly.

"We have been tracking the places unregistered gates have opened and have noticed none of them have appeared even close to any of the American continents. This is theorized to be because South and North America are so spiritually thin and any gate made nearby would have been noticed…"

The discussion continued as Toshiro jotted down notes and crossed off countries with information from most divisions- Kurotsuchi had stopped paying attention and Kenpachi had not bothered _starting_ to listen- leaving them with only Japan and a handful of surrounding countries in Asia.

Soon Toshiro put Karin's suggestion to the test, using only his memory to cross out specific sections in each country. For all the areas Toshiro did not know he made a quick search on his soul phone for, though luckily there were far fewer of those than he had feared there would be.

Once the maps had been narrowed down far enough Kyoraku stopped them and ordered the second division to scout around those areas for possible locations. Toshiro breathed a sigh of relief; he could handle most things, but simultaneously writing on a map with no words and explaining the information the tenth had found to the whole group was capable of exhausting even him. Then Kyoraku decided _that_ was the time to suggest his ridiculous idea.

"By the way, before we go I would like to propose something; I've been a bit busy lately and even Yama-jii had trouble putting together research before a captain's meeting, what if we had Toshiro do it?"

Before Toshiro could object- too busy with staring in shock at the fact that Kyoraku had just volunteered him- the other captains began nodding along.

"That does seem like a good idea." Soi-fon nodded, "We could increase your pay for the effort and if the Soi-taicho orders you to do this there would be no need to create a new position. We have started creating divisions which specialize in certain areas already, this would not be too different," she said, referring to the twelfth.

"Actually, I believe something like that has a chance of creating problems with the balance of power and such. As the divisions are meant to be one Soi-taicho with twelve equally-ranked captains it doesn't seem like a wise decision to change that. While I admit meetings could be planned better, I wouldn't want to cause issues like that."

"If ya did the meetings'd go a whole lot smoother," Hirako-taichou said, making several captains nod in agreement. "Besides, if we 'ad one person doin' it then none of the other captains would have to worry about it. It'd make everything more efficient."

"Yes, it would also give me more time to work on my experiments," Kurotsuchi agreed.

Ah, that explained it. Toshiro raised an eyebrow as he realized the other captains just did not like doing the work (barring Byakuya, who really just wanted the meetings to run more efficiently). How could the highest ranking people in the afterlife- some of the most powerful beings in existence- be so lazy? Well, lazy when it was not something that interested them, at least.

Toshiro honestly would not mind doing the work, but he was getting a bit annoyed at how eager the other captains were to give it all to him. Just because he was the _only_ one who occasionally enjoyed paperwork did not mean he enjoyed it all the time. He sighed as he acknowledged he was probably the best choice.

That did not change the fact that he wanted nothing more than to start repeatedly banging his head on the closest wall. He resisted the temptation. Barely.

"...Alright. If there are no objections to this I can take over planning all future captain meetings-" he ignored the way even the captains who usually kept masks on broke into huge relieved grins "-now, is there any other information on possible locations of the base we can share before ending this meeting? I would appreciate it if we got back on topic."

"Yes, actually." Kyoraku instantly captured everyone's attention, his body language shifting to resemble what they expected from the Captain Commander. "I will inform you if this changes based on the reports from the second division, but for now we have pretty much no idea what kind of defenses the base will possess. While it would be silly to _not_ include some of our strongest fighters in the attack, I would also like you to start considering shinigami who have somewhat unique skills. In the event that they would be useful to us I'd like them to be there."

Based on the description the first person who passed through Toshiro's mind was Sensai. While she could be put in danger as a result, she also had a one of a kind ability Toshiro had not seen in any others. It was mostly just a question of whether it was worth it to put her in danger when her ability was likely unnecessary.

Maybe Karin could help him figure it out.

As soon as the captains were dismissed Toshiro broke off into a flurry of shunpo to where Karin was handling her patrol. She always helped him figure out the angle he needed to look at a problem from.

* * *

This time Karin barely blinked at his sudden appearance, though her hand did twitch towards her zanpakuto before she confirmed who it was. It helped that Toshiro was also faster at proving his identity.

Once he did she relaxed her shoulders and leaned back slightly, raising a single eyebrow. "You know, Shiro, as happy as I am to see you… if you keep showing up like this while I'm on patrol I'm going to start thinking you don't believe in me. Well, that, or you're actually more lonely than I originally thought."

Smiling at her snark, Toshiro shook his head and said, "Actually, I'm here for some help. At the captain's meeting we discussed that the Soutaicho wants us to invite people who have unique skills on the invasion when we locate the base. He doesn't know what their defenses will be, so the larger variety in soldiers we have the more likely we are to succeed. And I… I was considering that it might be a good idea to invite-"

"Sensai?" Karin guessed, having seen his uncharacteristic hesitation. He did have a point, she was pretty unique, but could easily injure herself in battle. The girl who fixed houses was not exactly what Karin would consider 'combat ready'. Especially given that Karin had only seen her work in controlled environments.

But if they _did_ end up needing her, then she would be vital to the battle. It was mostly just a question of how likely that was to happen, something they had next to no information on.

Karin pursed her lips.

"Okay… how about this. You can explain the whole situation to her-"

"-Classified."

"- _some_ of the situation to her, and let her make the decision herself. If this was live combat and you needed to make a split-second decision I'm sure you'd be able to, it's this whole dwelling on it thing that's making you worry. But, hey, we have the time, you might as well ask her. She's not in your squad in the first place."

Toshiro nodded, his posture relaxing and the signs of stress leaving his expression. "That sounds good."

"Actually, can you wait? I'd like to talk with her too, it's been a while."

"I can, how much time left do you have of patrol?"

Sneaking a quick glance at her phone for the time- she really needed to get around to buying a watch- Karin sent Toshiro a slightly- apologetic but still teasing smile, "I have around two more hours, think you can survive that long without me? If not, I'm pretty sure Rangiku is in the tenth division group's little base-thing, so you can talk to her."

"...Well, I should probably check that she's done her paperwork. I'll see you in two hours then, can you meet me at that base? I might just do my paperwork there."

"Anything his majesty the captain commands."

"Isn't it a bit contradictory to say 'his majesty the captain'?"

"Maybe, I don't care. Off you go now," Karin told him as she made dismissive motions with her arms. Toshiro nodded and left, leaving Karin to suffer through two more hours of the somewhat-important but mind-numbingly boring job. And the worst part was that you could not let your numbed brain rest, you had to always be ready.

* * *

When Toshiro arrive at the base the first thing he noticed- much to a certain Lieutenant's fear- was that Matsumoto and another member of the tenth division had found a large bottle of sake. Putting on a slightly drunk and false smile, Matsumoto waved at him and not- so- subtly tried to hide the sake bottle under the bench.

"Hi, taicho! The two of us are off our patrol, so we thought we would come in here to relax. We have no patrol until around 11:00 PM- which I hate by the way, it leaves us no time to sleep- so we figured we'd calm down and enjoy ourselves. Do you want to join us? It might be fun!"

"Matsumoto. _This_ is the time in which you're meant to sleep before you go to your patrol. That also doesn't answer the question of why you're drinking sake in _my office_."

"Isn't it the group's office?" Matsumoto asked, clearly not noticing the rapid drop in temperature or the ice beginning to form on the windows. While Toshiro had gotten much better at controlling his physical outbursts, some of the impacts his emotions had on his reiatsu were more of a challenge.

He took a deep breath and tried (mostly unsuccessfully) to calm down. "I came to both make sure you were getting some rest and check if your paperwork has been finished. As I can see the former hasn't been achieved yet I am hesitant to ask, but did you finish the paperwork I gave you?"

"Ummm… "

Toshiro stared at her, waiting patiently for his answer.

"...Well, you see, I… the thing is that, well I was, I just was…"

By now, the man she had been drinking sake with was starting to inch away, fear evident in his face.

"The… problem with that is, um, paperwork is the enemy of all existence as we know it so I haven't exactly… I need a little more time?" As Toshiro continued to stare at her in silence she became increasingly worried. "Taicho?"

"...In around an hour and a half Karin will be coming here so we can go meet with someone to suggest something to them. I will help you until then, but you _will_ be finishing the rest yourself. Am. I. Understood?"

His eyes had begun glowing an icy bluish-white and the other soul was very, very glad he had started backing away. He was pretty sure he was starting to see his breath, so he quickly left the room and decided to follow his captain's advice about sleeping before he had more patrol.

"Y-yes sir."

Later, when Karin arrived at the division, she was greeted by both her captain and lieutenant working on paperwork (though it seemed to be that one of them was working on it while the other cried as she rested her head on it, smearing the ink). Toshiro, who had noticed her reiatsu, looked up and gave her a nod before putting away his work and moving to leave with her. As he left, he cast a glance back at his lieutenant.

"Finish all the work we still need to do."

"Yes sir…."

Karin held back a laugh and an eye roll as Toshiro sighed again and the two of them left. Toshiro, being by far the best at sensing, led the way to Sensai, who happened to be at the market.

"Sensai," Karin called out as soon as they arrived, but felt slightly guilty when her sudden word caused said girl to jump and turn around, almost falling in the process.

"Oh, Kurosaki, Hitsugaya-taicho. Hello."

"Hey, Shiro wanted to talk to you about something."

Toshiro nodded and sent her a smile. "This is entirely optional, but I thought I could bring it up. If you want to I think we could have you on the attack force which will be sent out because of your unique skill… I don't want to assume anything or make you feel pressured, I'm just suggesting the idea and telling you I" "we," Karin interjected, "yes, _we_ will support you if you choose to. Just thought I'd bring the idea up."

"I… that, thank you. That really is an honor, um, can I have some time to think on it?" At Karin and Toshiro's simultaneous nods she was able to relax a bit more. "And is there any update on the villages? Anything more I can do for that?"

"Well, actually, and I haven't had a chance to tell you yet," Toshiro began, directing the latter part at Karin, "the captains all decided that from now on I would be in charge of planning the meetings and organizing them, so I should be able to bring those up sometime and gain more support."

"Oh, so they finally realized that you're obviously best at arranging meetings and if you do it they won't have to?" Karin asked, realizing what had happened in seconds. For all that Toshiro could excel in politics, Karin completely understood the other shinigami and captains.

"I suppose so. Regardless, I just thought I'd suggest the idea. I'll see you soon." He told Sensai, to which the other girl blushed and nodded, mumbling how she would be happy to see them for the work on Kuchiki villages.

Toshiro and Karin turned to each other, sharing a smile, before they gathered their reiatsu and seemingly vanished.

* * *

1) So I'm considering having a chapter at the end which shows what their lives are like after everything and a few years have passed, sort of like what happened in the actual Bleach manga. I'd like to hear your guy's thoughts on this, because I'm still not sure. Also, if you want me to include kids I'd appreciate some suggestions for names I could use. Thanks!


	38. Chapter 38

Karin yawned, trying pointlessly to blink away sleepy eyes as she continued her patrol. Lately she had been losing a lot of sleep with how often she was called out to beat back an attack. The good news was that they won a majority of the battles.

The bad news was that they did not win all of them.

The times in which they were forced to retreat ended with the shadow-mist being placed around the village and making it much more difficult to gain back control of the territory. After several attempts the shinigami had learned a bit about how to get by the shadow and reclaim areas, but they were still mostly stuck playing defense.

When Karin, Toshiro and Sensai began finishing up the houses in the Kuchiki districts Sensai told them she had decided to take part in the coming offensive battle. As she spoke, she had glanced over to the children laughing and talking about their new houses with a proud smile on her face which Karin copied.

While she and Toshiro were still slightly apprehensive about her choice, they admitted to each other that it was most likely good for them tactically and not their decision to make. Then again, if they were feeling this worried about a friend getting involved in something so dangerous Karin had to wonder how her father was always fine with Ichigo's adventures. Was it just because Ichigo was extremely powerful and made his choice without Isshin's influence? Or was it just that Isshin was a bit more… neglectant when it came to taking care of his son in obvious ways.

Karin had to admit she still had a bit of a grudge against him for all the secrets he kept from both his daughters _and_ his son. Even without his powers, there must have been _some_ help Isshin could have given him. Any explanation into their parent's pasts would have cleared a lot up.

Whatever, Sensai was an adult- she actually looked a little older than Karin and Toshiro despite their recent growth spurt- and could make her own decisions. If this was what she wanted to do and she was unlikely to be just a burden during the operation Karin and Toshiro could only assist her in what she wanted.

Karin blinked again; when she was tired she started thinking too much, she really needed to get out of that habit. Out of the corner of her eye Karin noticed a hell butterfly was approaching her position. She held out her finger and allowed it to deliver its message before vanishing into specks of purple and black energy.

A meeting was being called, wait for the substitute guards to arrive and then go to the first division. Karin flared her reiatsu and waited for the person subbing her out to find her. Luckily, she did not have to wait long and soon she had left to join several others in the first division.

Based on the people who joined her and the sheer number of people present Karin had a feeling she knew what the meeting was for. Her thoughts were confirmed as Kyoraku stood up and gained the attention of everyone present.

"Yesterday night the second division located the rebel base. They have, in the meantime, done an intensive study of the area and found as much information as they could. It is a large, rectangular building where their leaders are-"

"What sort of leaders are we talking about?" Karin frowned slightly at the soul who interrupted the speech, but knew that Kyoraku was far less worried about authoritative positions than the previous Soutaicho. It still was a bit annoying to her to have explanations cut off.

"The second division has observed several political leaders who lead them by raising moral. We believe they are the ones who started the operation, and then got the members with military knowledge and power involved."

Like Kanna, her brain supplied which Karin immediately tried to ignore. In her opinion, she thought she had done a good job moving on with her life and not dwelling on her former friend, but little careless comments like that would pop up in her mind every once in a while.

Oh well, as long as she did not let it interfere with her work it was fine. Shaking her head, Karin turned her attention back to the instructions they were being given.

"I will stay here to serve as a defense for Soul Society, but everyone else here will be taking part in the battle. I'm aware many of you would have liked more time to prepare, but the problem is the longer we wait the more likely it is we will lose the element of surprise. Tonight meet in front of the first division, once there we will go through the senkaimon and then slit off into the separate groups I'm assigning you."

"Yes Sir!"

* * *

From there, the various groups were decided, mainly placing people who were known to be able to trust each other together. This, usually, meant people from the same squad, but as Sensai had not really gone on any mission with her squad she was instead placed with the group from the tenth division (aka Karin).

"How are you feeling?" Karin blinked once and turned towards Toshiro, who had left the spotlight to speak with her privately. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Glancing down, Karin noticed she had been clenching her uniform in her fists. She took a deep breath and let go, not having even noticed how her heart rate had risen.

"No, no. I'm… I'm a little nervous, but chill, I'll be fine. There's really nothing for you to worry about, promise." She knew Toshiro would notice how fake the smile she sent was, but figured it was better than nothing.

"Are you sure?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the so-obviously-fake-I-can't-believe-you-thought-I'd-fall-for-this smile but still reaching out to grab her hand.

Karin smiled and squeezed Toshiro's hand slightly, smiling. "I'm sure. You- we both- have jobs to do. I know I can handle mine, you don't need to worry about it, I promise."

She may have less experience than almost all of the other souls present, but she knew she could handle it. This was something the was good at, she had it covered.

Toshiro smiled at her and nodded, finally letting go to rejoin the other captains in planning strategy.

From the moment they stepped out of the senkaimon everyone was on full alert. Karin hid with her squad (+ Sensai), keeping her reiatsu as low as it could possibly go. The twelfth division had created bracelets which kept reiatsu slightly contained for those, quote, "fools who couldn't even spend time to learn to control their reiatsu and needed to rely on the generosity of the already - busy twelfth division".

Sensai looked like she was shaking slightly on the side, so Karin reached her arm out and patted her back awkwardly. Whatever she did seemed to work as Sensai was able to take a deep breath and calm down immediately after.

Their group moved along the outer edge of the base, sticking as close as they could to the kido shield surrounding it without actually making contact. They had no way of knowing whether the thing was touch sensitive, the second division did not want to test it out.

The group circled around to the back of the base, trying to keep in shadows as much as possible. They, annoyingly could not use shunpo because the sudden jumps in reiatsu would be noticed by anyone with better reiatsu sensing abilities than Ichigo. (A fact Karin cursed every time she almost tripped on one of the loose rocks making up their path).

They were to capture as many as they could, but were also not allowed to let any escape. As such, as soon as the second division got inside to the leader's rooms and assassinated them there would be a battle.

Ichigo was also present, but even after all this time he could not control his reiatsu. Bringing it high enough to not be sensed would probably cause every soul in the nearby vicinity to go through soul-destruction, so he would just be waiting several towns away to be told the battle had begun.

Karin took another deep breath. It was almost time. As soon as the second division released the report of success on the soul phones it would be time to move. The remaining seconds ticked by, and Karin sneaked a glance toward Toshiro, who met her gaze and sent her a reassuring smile. Karin smiled back as she made sure the clip she was wearing- Toshiro's red clip from a year ago she was now regretting putting on- was secure in her hair.

5\. Toshiro felt the lower reiatsu signatures of the people he assumed to be their political leaders disappear. It was quick, silent, and efficient, just as expected of the second division.

4\. A loud burst of spiritual pressure alerted the rebels to the fact that they were in the middle of an invasion. Another soul must have felt the leader's reiatsu signatures disappear.

3\. The distinctive… almost lack of reiatsu the twelfth's experiment gave off appeared and began to grow in volume and power as it was released. It also caused the reiatsu wall the rebels had surrounded their base with as a shield to dissipate and vanish. Just as expected.

2\. Karin and Toshiro both smirked as they heard the orders to engage through the network connection sent out by their soul phones. The team waited for Toshiro's command.

1\. "Move out!"

Karin immediately flash stepped through the area where the wall had been and attacked a group of rebels who were stationed to guard the front of the base. The confusion caused by the sudden lowering of the wall and release of the experiment made them child's play for Karin.

"Try not to kill them if you can help it," she reminded herself, restricting her fighting to creating large gashes in their legs. As they fell to the ground Sensai caught them in a restrictive kido that trapped them in a solid box, similar to the construction kido she was so skilled with.

Soon, the two of them had created a rhythm; Karin would move ahead and incapacitate the rebels, taking care to remove their weapons and keep Sensai out of danger, while Sensai would follow and restrict them. While extremely uncomfortable, they would not die from being trapped in a box and just from the way the spell worked it would actually keep them from bleeding out. Karin supposed it was lucky souls do not need water as long as they have access to reishi (I think…).

Besides, none of the ones she attacked seemed to have enough power to actually starve to death, so it actually worked out great for them. The only problem would be if they met up with any stronger souls while there.

Kanna, her mind reminded her, but being in active combat made it easier to squash the thought.

Karin moved swiftly, taking out as many of the rebels as she could. Unfortunately, the initial confusion caused by the sudden change and untrained guards had mostly disappeared and the rebels were beginning to fight back.

Seeing several shinigami struggle, Karin made a sudden left and went to help them. While there were mostly high-ranking officers on the team, very few of them had the innate battle talent Karin seemed to have inherited from her father, mother and brother. The larger groups of rebels gave many of the shinigami pause, while Karin was more than capable of helping any group which began to struggle.

The largest problem seemed to be the numbers. With little to no concern for the reiatsu power levels of volunteers as well as who knows how many decades to gather them the defending force greatly surpassed the invaders in terms of sheer numbers. Most shinigami having been left to guard the Seireitei did not help either.

The sharp sound of connecting metal made Karin's eyes widen slightly in surprise as her sword was met by another's. The man she began fighting was soon joined by a woman of about the same level. Karin mentally growled- she could not use shikai, this was an endurance battle where she needed to conserve her energy as much as possible. The attacks between the two spoke of practice training together, and Karin suspected they were also trained by the people who trained nobles like Kanna and Takahiro. Barely dodging an attack which nicked her ear Karin realized she did not have time to continue fighting the two, but they were too skilled for her to be able to take them alive.

As she parried the girl's attack the boy moved in towards her throat. Karin took a deep breath. Flash stepping behind the boy, Karin knocked him off his legs. As he fell toward the ground Karin lifted her zanpakuto and pushed it through his heart.

The woman screamed.

Her wounded, broken, _grieving_ yell gave Karin enough time to move behind her and remove her head in a clean slice. The woman's body fell to the ground.

Turning slightly, Karin saw Sensai staring at the dead souls in horror and found she recognized the girl's emotions as the ones she was feeling towards herself. Hollows never made the kind of sound the woman had when one of _them_ fell. Clenching her fists, Karin turned away, refusing to meet her eyes.

"I… right," Sensai said, taking deep breaths. "Right, this is war. You had to. Keep going." The reminder of the situation was enough to snap Karin out of her frozen state and allow her adrenalin to take over again, encouraging her to move. It would be silly to kill them for the sake of saving time and then disrespect that by standing still.

Sensai once again followed Karin, restraining every soul she disarmed and trying to keep her from needing to put too many souls through their soul death. Soon, they were back into a pattern, taking out as many people as they could while the second division came by to imprison any and all rebels who had already been restrained.

The closer Karin and Sensai got to the center of the base, the more fallen shinigami they would see and the more strong fighters they would encolunter. Soon, Sensai was forced to play a support role of backing Karin up with her kido as they fought, and occasionally Karin was forced to use her shikai.

Several hours went by, occupied only by the continuous fighting. Karin's mind began to shut down, so used to the pattern and so tired from the work that, for a while, Karin did not notice her drained state.

Eventually though, they received a message through the network that it was time for them to switch out (1) and let some other shinigami take care of the battle. Karin and Sensai left the base, returning to the edge where there were tents and food set out for them. Glancing back, Karin stared with concern at the continuing battle.

For all that they had managed to kill the rebel leaders, there were still countless fighters who had decided to die for their cause and go out fighting. As such, soul society was forced to spread themselves thin to deal with several unorganized attacks by angry former-rebels searching for an outlet to their hate. In the meantime, the shinigami on the attack dealt with the large number of souls who were present at the base.

Karin really needed to get her two hours of sleep, she would be woken up to continue fighting soon, it was pointless to spend her valuable time assessing the situation.

As she fell asleep her last thought was, ' _I hope Shiro's okay_ '.

* * *

"Sir, wouldn't it be better to just have you use bankai to freeze the entire base?" Toshiro casually looked over to see a member of the sixth division staring at him, eyes weary from hours of constant fighting.

"I could try, but if we get the shinigami inside to leave it would alert the rebels something was happening and they would leave as well. Also, even if that was not an issue what our fights are doing now is drawing most of the rebels in to fight, if I froze everything from the beginning we might have missed most of them. Besides, we have no idea if that would just make the experiment stronger than it already is."

"Ah…" the soul nodded, disappointment obvious on his face. Toshiro had taken his break several hours earlier, so he was more than ready to continue fighting. He glanced toward the center of the base, where the twelfth experiment still searched for souls to destroy. Luckily, Ichigo Kurosaki and Orihime Kurosaki were using their power and unique abilities respectively to keep back the shadow. While crude, the method of allowing yourself to be captured and then raising reiatsu was an effective way of battling the creature. When more of the rebels were captured the other captains would join in on destroying the monster, for now keeping it back was the most important thing.

Out of the corner of his eye, Toshiro noticed another group of rebels fighting against a single shinigami. Immediately he turned away from the tired soul and flash stepped closer to offer assistance. The rebels were relatively easy to beat, until Toshiro felt an attack coming for his back and suddenly turned to block it.

The resulting shock wave was enough to send the two shinigami who had been with him flying away and the rise in spiritual pressure slammed them to the ground.

Toshiro flash stepped back to gain distance and looked up. He recognized the spiritual pressure which had crashed into him as an attack. Meeting his opponent's eyes allowed him to see their face and he confirmed the reason as to why he recognized the reishi which had come after him.

Takahiro.

Kanna's brother gave him a blank, emotionless stare which he returned. They both knew better than to allow their emotions to get involved during an actual fight. The tension rose as they continued to lock eyes and study each other. Toshiro gripped Hyorinmaru tighter and evened his breathing.

For a moment they were still. In the next, sparks flew as their zanpakuto connected and crashed into each other. Toshiro dropped down to sweep his legs, missing as Takahiro flash stepped back to avoid the attack. Without wasting a second the two moved towards each other again and connected. A loud ringing sound resounded as metal hit metal, but neither soul hesitated in their attack.

Toshiro scowled. He had more skill and battle experience than Takahiro, but they were ending up even as Toshiro's limiter gave him enough of a disadvantage that he could not easily win. For a moment, he considered sending a call to Soul Society to get it removed, but shook the idea away as he dodged an attack to his neck.

There was already too much reiatsu in one area, a captain releasing their seal could cause the shadow - he had not realized his opinion of Kurotsuchi could get any lower- to rapidly gain power and change the course of the battle. As such, he had no choice but to give up on that idea.

Takahiro's zanpakuto- coupled with his greater reiatsu- was steady and strong, though Hyorinmaru's thinner shape allowed him to be faster. Each fighter used their skills to their advantage, causing a repeat of Toshiro moving to a blind spot and attacking only for Takahiro to block at the last second. There were exceptions, but the pattern was easily noticeable.

Toshiro paused to take a breath as he wiped some sweat from his brow before attacking again. The fight was dragging on, and though Toshiro had a slight advantage- usually managing to surprise Takahiro with random attacks of kido- Toshiro knew he was spending too much time on one person. The goal was to be quick with opponents and capture as many as possible, he needed to try to end it.

Once again, the two boys clashed zanpakuto, creating a small crater in the ground from the energy. For a second, there was a standstill as the two locked gazes.

"Hado no san shi san," (2) Toshiro whispered, causing Takahiro's body to tense. " _Sokatsui_!"

The blue fire sent Takahiro back as he tried to gain distance before he realized there was a limit to how far he could go due to the circle of energy surrounding them.

"Hado no si shi ba, _Gaki Rekko_!" The green energy created beams which trapped him in place for the moment it took him to realize how to break the binding.

That moment was all Toshiro needed.

In a second the ice captain had moved next to the other boy and swung. Though Takahiro managed to escape, as he landed he realized there was a large cut through his arm. Toshiro looked over and swung the blood of his zanpakuto. Takahiro scowled and ignored the pain.

He could barely hold his zanpakuto anymore, so there was not much he could do against Toshiro. Shaking his head, Takahiro switched the blade to his other hand and paid no mind to the blood dripping down his body and into his clothes. He had no doubt that any attempt to run away at the current time would result in capture.

In a careful shunpo Takahiro appeared above Toshiro and attacked. Toshiro blocked the attack, then moved behind Takahiro with an attack of his own. Takahiro gritted his teeth and aimed the hand of his already destroyed arm towards the captain.

"Hado no si, _Byakurai_!"

"Bakudo no ba, _Seki_!" The shield which appeared on Toshiro's arm easily repelled the attack Takahiro had sent and left him near defenseless. However, it also bought him enough time to do what he planned to.

"Bakudo no er shi yi, _Sekienton_!" The kido performed precisely as it was meant to and a large blast of 'smoke' and dust was released into the air, blocking Toshiro's vision. He moved in toward where Takahiro had last been and swung his sword, but in the dissipating dust he saw the other boy had already left.

If Takahiro had time to heal then the battle gave Takahiro some information on Toshiro's fighting style he should not have. Toshiro cursed, but stopped himself from doing anything more. He had a job to do, he could worry about that later.

' _Karin would be so happy with me_ ,' he thought as he moved to find other rebels. ' _I'm finally learning how to procrastinate_.'

* * *

Karin and Sensai both gasped as they leaned against a wall. Their next break would be soon, and it was showing in their fatigue. Soul Society had been a bit lax in its training on how to continue fighting with only small breaks for days on end. Karin was pretty sure her brother and Toshiro could do it, but the former was fighting the shadow-thing and the latter was both fighting and leading other shinigami. For a moment, she wondered how both were able to handle having a limiter to keep them from affecting the surroundings, but decided they were probably more used to it than she was(3).

After another deep breath Karin felt some of the life return to her already-dead soul and looked up at Sensai. "Ready to get going? Or do you need a bit of a longer break…"

"No, no I'm good," Sensai interrupted as she took several large gasps. "I'm ready to keep going, I've got this and I'm back to normal. It was enough of a break for me."

Karin highly doubted that, but decided not to argue. So, instead, she shrugged and motioned for the other girl to follow her as they walked through the base in search of more opponents. Up ahead, Karin felt the reiatsu of a reasonably large group and investigation showed it was a gathering of seven rebels. Karin smirked.

Removing the hand which had been rubbing a bruise on her shoulder, Karin turned to her friend with a smirk. "You ready?"

Sensai returned an excited smile and nod. "Definitely."

Without warning, Karin had flash stepped down to the center of the group and attacked the legs of one of the members. Not having expected an attack- thank god Kurotsuchi could actually make good things (reiatsu suppressors) on top of also being a mad scientist- the woman had no defense and was taken out easily.

Karin's appearance caused the other souls to straighten up and prepare for combat, but most were a second too late as Karin disarmed two of them and knocked them out with quick blows to the head.

Sensai continued to stand on the side and restrain them from a distance. Her kido continued to forgo the more well-known academy taught kido and instead focus on the material creating abilities she had to trap them.

Several of the rebels began noticing Sensai's presence, but Karin kept them from being able to attack her. In a handful of minutes the seven rebels were down and restrained, so Karin took a second to take a deep breath.

Just as she was about to turn around to Sensai she heard the other girl give a chilling scream and, for a moment, froze. Then she immediately whipped her head around to see another rebel who had not been part of the group she had seen stabbing a zanpakuto through Sensai's back.

Karin's breath caught as her eyes widened and she froze, her mind briefly shutting down. Sensai's body fell to the floor.

* * *

1) So, I have absolutely no idea if armies actually do this (I'm going to guess no, but I haven't done the research). If not, let's assume that because shinigami need to keep up their spiritual energy to be any use in battle the shinigami don't make someone fight for more than a few hours. Another thing that makes this harder is I actually have no idea how long some of the fights in Bleach are (because let's be honest, it was kinda vague what the time we watch to time they fight ratio was).

2) Okay, so I don't really know any Japanese beyond what I learned from watching anime. I do, however, know a tiny, tiny, tiny bit of Mandarin, so I'll be using the bit I do know for the numbers. I am using Plazmaburner66's "story" "Bakudo and Hado spells" for most of the kido and it doesn't include how the characters actually say the thing (though it includes some of the chants) so I'm doing my best to guess something sorta similar from what I remember.

3) So yes, I gave Ichigo a limiter, but honestly I don't see why they wouldn't. I mean, at this point he'll have gotten powerful enough to do who-knows-what to the human world and still has next to no control so I can't see any reason why he wouldn't agree to getting one.


	39. Chapter 39

...Sensai's body fell to the floor.

"I… Sen-" only instinct saved her from the attack by forcing her to react and dodge as the rebel came forward with intent to kill. Her shunpo brought her a dozen feet away and the rebel continued to follow.

His attacks were uncoordinated, untrained. It was obvious to Karin that he had little to no experience using it or fighting. She was sure that, if not for the sneak attack, Sensai would be able to beat him. Maybe she could test that theory sometime, it would be good practice.

Sensai could not possibly be dea- too hurt to fight anymore.

As she continued to dodge she ended up circling around and moved near where she started. Sensai's blank, cold, empty (words that should never have to be used with the shy, kind girl Karin knew) eyes stared up at nothing. She would seem fine if she was not gazing pointlessly at the sky and far, _far_ too still.

She was dead.

A slight turn caused the zanpakuto which had been seconds away from hitting Karin to miss, allowing her to throw the rebel over her shoulder. Her crashed to the ground with a grunt and Karin turned to see if Sensai would react- seal him up- _anything_. She stayed staring at the sky, seemingly ignoring the fight in front of her. That made sense, after all, the dead can not react to the changing world around them.

She was dead.

As the rebel began to struggle and stand up again- not restricted by the kido that would normally have come as soon as he fell- Karin vision was overwhelmed with a sharp, burning rage. As she clenched her fists her reiatsu raised into a burning fire and the land around her dried up.

"HA!" the rebel screamed as he moved in to attack her. Karin gave him a casual yet hateful sneer out of a simple glance sideways as he attacked. He never saw the strike which ended his life, never noticed Karin's zanpakuto remove his head before stabbing through his heart in the same way he had done to the girl with her.

The rebel lay flat, dead, and Karin sunk to her knees, gasping and trying desperately to control her breathing. She could not breathe, could not move could not think. How could- why did- _careless_ \- noticed, why- how else- _idiot_ \- should have paid attention - _your fault_ \- why would- _sorry_.

Words and phrases swam through her mind and all made it impossible for her to focus, think, process, breathe, as the guilt came crashing down on her. Her subconscious vaguely noticed she had started shaking and the red clip in her hair fell off onto the ground in front of her.

Slowly, she looked up and moved towards Sensai, hobbling as if carrying a heavy weight. She had never carried something as heavy as a guilty conscience before. Genuine tears pricked her eyes for the first time in years and she found herself sinking to her knees again as she collapsed next to the body.

A soft, tinkling sound filled her ears and she forced herself to glance up at the hell butterfly approaching her. It flew down to her shaking hands on the ground and landed on her finger.

 _Rebel reinforcements coming soon from a nearby village, some will stay to take care of the remaining rebels, third seat Kurosaki and Sensai will take a break until further notice_. Karin heard the words-understood the logic behind them- knew they could not have known- but still felt her vision go slightly red at what was said. She clenched her fists filled with a desire to punch something, _anything_ , only to look around and remember she was alone.

She continued to gaze around as if she would see something that would tell her what to do. She did not have a battle to finish- already did that- as the academy had taught her to do when this happened. She did not have an emotionless superior who would give her instructions, she was alone. And on the verge of a panic attack.

Among all the boring, neutral colors of the surrounding walls Karin saw a flash or red which instantly drew her eyes. Her clip. Right, Toshiro. She had to meet up with him.

He would come to find her if she did not show up, and… she had to tell someone about Sensai. Was she supposed to bring the body with her? She could not just leave the still warm corpse in the middle of the battleground.

She resolutely ignored the fact that there were several other bodies present directly around her, many of which had been killed by her during the previous fight.

Looking back and forth between the clip and Sensai she eventually slapped her cheeks and calmed down, before clipping the hair ornament back on and lifting Sensai's body. Her enhanced strength made it more than possible to carry the other girl, but she felt like the dishonorable action of moving a corpse was tainting any good left in her.

She was sure that, had she not been a soul reaper, this experience would have turned her into a hollow. That was… not the most comforting thought she could have come up with.

Luckily Karin could, for once, feel Toshiro's reiatsu and get to him without going through anyone else. Not bothering to hide his power, Toshiro's reiatsu flickered with annoyance, worry and desperation, though calmed down once he felt Karin's reiatsu approaching him.

That relief turned into shock when Karin landed in front of him carrying Sensai's body in her arms. She was just glad Toshiro was standing behind a cliff, giving them some privacy. She sank down to the floor and sat the other girl's body down before her captain, shaking slightly and staring at the ground.

She took a deep breath and calmed down, looking up to meet his eyes- so much more emotional than usual, and, for once, she did not like the emotions she was seeing- which looked back at her.

"...I'm sorry, she didn't make it."

"I… are you sure? I ended up stabbing Momo through the back because of Aizen's manipulation, but the fourth division was still able to save her life. Even if not, Orihime coul-"

His words stopped as Karin gave a slow, defeated shake of her head. For all of Orihime's mythical power, even she could not bring back a soul after it began experiencing its soul death (1).

"Her body's growing cold and her heart stopped beating-"

"Even humans can restart heartbeats-"

"Stopped beating almost half an hour ago. Feel her body, it's not warm anymore, there's nothing that can be done. I was really shocked when I saw it happen, so I didn't have the foresight to try to get her to help as fast as possible; my mind just wrote her off as dead and I didn't bother… I'm sorry."

The two stared at each other in silence for a moment before Toshiro shook his head. "I… she wasn't drafted. It was her choice, I can handle the paperwork regarding her… so…"

"Does not being drafted actually change what happened? She didn't _want_ to die!"

Hesitantly, Toshiro flash stepped next to Karin and lifted his arms in something resembling a hug. He paused momentarily around her shoulders before reaching over and pulling her in.

It wasn't like one of the hugs they had before, full of happiness and a desire for physical contact, but Karin decided it was nicer to have now than anything else. He was offering her comfort… supporting her like when she was injured after finding out Kanna had betrayed them. It was… calming.

For several minutes the two of them stood there, Toshiro wrapping his arms around her in an embrace which became more confident and secure as time went on. Eventually, Karin felt she had relaxed enough and pulled away from the hug, meeting Toshiro's eyes.

"What do we do now?" She glanced down at the body next to them, guilt increasing as she remembered the treatment shinigami of no real rank who died in battle received. A mention after the conflict, an apology letter to close friends and family, and then they are, for the most part, forgotten.

Toshiro was obviously having similar thoughts as he stared down at the still girl, his scowl becoming increasingly annoyed and frustrated. Karin glanced over at him, wondering if there was anything they could do.

"I… it would be extremely rude of us, but normally her body would just be taken away by the second division to place with the bodies of the rebels. We could have a small funeral… though that would mean not inviting her friends and family, which could be considered-"

"She doesn't have any."

Toshiro blinked in surprise and glanced at Karin's regretful expression. "Excuse me?"

"She doesn't have any. We were talking before while fixing the houses, she doesn't really have any friends in the shinigami because she doesn't do much training with them- remember? She hates sparring with zanpakuto- and she lost contact with the group she used to consider her family while growing up."

Toshiro had no idea if that was better or worse than having a group of people who would love and miss her.

"Then… well, it would be nice if we could give her a proper farewell. This isn't really the best circumstances, but it's better than absolutely _nothing_ … Shall we?"

Karin looked over and nodded. Luckily, funerals in Soul Society were- while still sad- much less so than funerals in the world of the living. This had to do with the reassurance that souls which died would just be going through the cycle of rebirth and be born again, getting another chance at life.

Toshiro used kido to form a coffin around the girl as Karin dug out an area for him to place it. Before setting the coffin down they took five minutes to remember everything they could about Sensai, skipping speeches but experiencing the emotions involved all the same.

Together they set her down into the grave and covered it back up, wishing her a prosperous next life.

* * *

Normally Kairn loved to sleep (it gave her more energy to play soccer and train, if nothing else), but she could not help feeling uneasy as she went to bed that night.

After several minutes which turned into an hour of tossing and turning in bed -well, it was more a tent, really- she was finally able to calm down enough to sleep. It was pretty rare for her to dream, but that night started off with Karin finding herself in one of the villages she had helped repair.

Karin sent her reiatsu to Sensai who was creating a lavish european castle for the souls to live in (2). The children and families around her- who were all dressed in shinigami uniforms- watched their homes being created with joyful expressions. Then Karin was ready to switch off with Toshiro and let him take over supplying reiatsu, but he was gone.

Karin did not remember seeing him, but she had been pretty sure he was there, so she briefly left Sensai to go find him. As she began searching through the town in the area she thought he had been she heard as scream come from behind her. Her head whipped around as the life in Sensai's eyes disappeared.

A sword formed sticking out of her chest and a faceless soul she knew was a rebel stood behind her, holding the hilt of the sword. In the next second he was gone, leaving Karin unable to do anything to stop him. Sensai fell to the ground.

Karin ran toward the body and knelt down next to it, confirming her death. On the side, the townspeople began whispering to each other, sneaking glances at Karin while they talked.

"Toshiro?" Karin asked out, not knowing what to do. He stayed gone.

The judgement in the expressions of the adults increased and Karin was able to make out her name and the words "unstable", "fault" and "powerless". Karin had no idea how they knew her name, but she knew she would do _anything_ to get them to stop talking about her like that.

One of the children came up to her, and the blame on the boy's face was terrifying to see. He moved right in front of her, followed by the other children who showed their support by backing him up.

"Will onee-chan not be able to make anymore houses for us? (3) Are we going to have to keep living in the same dangerous buildings we already are? You promised us a better place to live."

For the life of her, Karin was unable to say anything- an excuse nor reassurance- in return. The anger and frustration and hate in the children's expressions began to load onto her until she was not able to move.

"Why did it have to be her? She was the one helping us," the boy continued. "She worked on construction, why was she the one to fight in the battle in the first place? She didn't belong there."

Karin finally felt like she could talk again, but instead of the comfort she had wanted to say, what came out was, "Because… I… asked her to."

"So it's your fault then."

The blame on the children's faces only grew and, suddenly, Karin blinked and the kids surrounded her. She looked around, but even the adults from earlier were nowhere to be seen.

"Why did it have to be her? She was doing more good in the world than any other soul reaper! Why couldn't it have been someone else?! Someone who didn't try and help us?"

Soon, it was not just the boy asking questions, the other children all began to chime in as well.

"Why was it _her_?"

"Why didn't you save her? _Help her_?!"

"After all she did for you you're just going to let her _die_? Why didn't you do anything!?"

"I cared about her more than any other soul reaper. If anyone had to die, it shouldn't have been _her_!"

" _She_ helped us, none of the others did."

"The other shinigami haven't offered us any aid, she did! Is that why she had to die? Because the shinigami can't accept someone who's actually a _good_ person?!"

"It shouldn't have been _her_ who died!"

"You brought her with you! Why?! You should have known she wasn't the one who should have died!"

"It shouldn't have been her! Someone _else_ should-"

"Anyone else could have died, anyone except-"

"She was the only good person in all of Soul Society! You shouldn't have let her die-"

"It shouldn't have been _her_. It should have been anyone else. It shouldn't have been her."

" _It should have been you_."

Karin was shaking as they spoke, tears streaming down her face. Their words left her no room to talk and the number of children with broken homes had multiplied, covering every area she could see until they filled the town.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry," she wanted to say, but the words would not form. She continued to shake as Sensai's body disappeared and the children walked closer. She felt a hand on her shoulder, but when Karin turned around there was no one there. The hand began to shake her, but she could not see anyone-

Karin woke up. Toshiro was sitting next to her, trying to shake her awake. They made eye contact and for a moment Karin could see the concern and fear that was dancing across his expression. Her awakening calmed him down, and his face reset into his usual, calmer expression.

"Are you okay, Karin? I felt your reiatsu start to spike and go crazy. When I got here you were shaking."

"...I, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad dream." He waited patiently, ready to help if she wanted to talk about it. After a minute or so, Karin had calmed down enough to speak. "It was just… rubbing salt in a wound already created by guilt. I know it wasn't rational, don't worry about that."

Toshiro nodded, "Yeah, all the captains have probably experienced similar dreams." Karin raised her eyebrows at him and he amended, "Well, with the possible exception of Kurotsuchi and maybe Kenpachi. But most of us have."

"...Have you?"

"Mmhm. When we order people out on missions they don't' always make it back. Then the guilt of having sent someone on an assignment they weren't ready for crashes. It's especially bad when you personally know the person, though that doesn't happen too often."

"...Makes sense."

The couple sat together in silence for a minute, Karin gradually relaxing more as time went on. Eventually Toshiro tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Would you like to sleep in my room?"

Momentarily taken aback, Karin quickly smirked and responded, "And here I thought you were the one who didn't feel comfortable sleeping together until this whole mess is over."

His raised eyebrow told her exactly what he thought of her statement.

Karin chuckled slightly, but thought about what he asked. After a moment, she shook her head and sent him a small smile.

"I'm fine. Thanks. Could you just… stay here for a minute or two? I'll be fine after that." He nodded and adjusted slightly into a more comfortable position. "Have you had any nightmares?"

Toshiro shook his head, "Not really. Like I said, I've been through this before. I think I'll be good for a while."

"That's good…" Karin mumbled as she laid down on the bed, relaxing again. Toshiro smiled, brushing some hair from her face before leaving the room to return to sleep himself.

* * *

"Good morning."

Karin could admit to jumping slightly at the sudden appearance of her boyfriend soon after she got up. He was not hiding his reiatsu, so normally she would have been able to notice him while he was this close, but… it was really, _really_ early in the morning and her brain had not fully woken up yet.

"Morning," she responded as she finished washing her face. The memory of last night's nightmare and Toshiro's help came to the forefront of Karin's mind and she hoped he would not bring it up. While it was fine with him, there was not a word to describe the embarrassment she would be forced through if her dad found out.

"I think I'm heading out to rejoin the battle soon- that was the longest break yet- so I guess I'll be seeing you," Karin told him as she pushed her hair back into a ponytail. Hesitating for a moment, she also decided to add the clip into her hair as both reassurance and motivation.

"That sounds about right, the rebel's reinforcements are apparently coming soon. Our mostly superior power will, once again, have to deal with their vastly superior numbers. I'm going to be in charge of arranging a captain's meeting for today, and we'll be talking about that."

Karin finished brushing her teeth and nodded in agreement. While his new position would allow him to bring up the re-construction of the lower districts in the Ryukongai, that should probably be dealt with _after_ all this.

"Do you think I'll need to grab maps of everywhere I think will be relevant or just this area?"

"I really don't see why you can't just use the electronic maps Kurotsuchi created. Wouldn't that be more convenient for all this… and, you know, faster?"

"He hasn't updated them in a long time while the shinigami, who are more used to paper maps, have continued to get those paper maps for the captains regardless of how completely useless they are in practically every conceivable situation…" his tone did not change, but Karin could not help smiling slightly at his words.

"Someone sounds bitter."

"It is simply inefficient."

"Mmhm. Sure. Well, we'll have to get to work on that when we have some time. Anyways, I think you should grab maps on all of Japan- no matter how seemingly insignificant- and then avoid the other countries unless you need it. But, then again, I'm not the expert on these sorts of things."

"Neither am I, this is my second meeting and first that's really run by me."

"Is that what I'm hearing? Is his majesty the prodigy captain admitting defeat?"

"Admitting to inexperience if far from the same thing," Toshiro grumbled, but when they made eye contact they shared a smile. For a moment Toshiro opened his mouth to say something, but then he stopped and shook his head. "I'll see you after your battle then, you're going to be assigned to a new partner to handle the kido, right?"

"Yeah, he's the fourth seat of the second division. I'll see you tonight."

"...Of course, right." Toshiro said with a nod and Karin was left slightly confused to his reaction. Deciding she would ask him about it later, she continued to get ready and waited for the hell butterfly to come with a message to assemble.

* * *

Karin looked back on how the day had gone in an effort to make herself bored enough to fall asleep. She, once again, only had a handful of hours to rest so she wanted to sleep as quickly as possible.

Her partner had been fine, if a little over-enthusiastic. He knew how to make the bindings and would rush in with a trained, silent shunpo to trap anyone Karin brought down. That, unfortunately, also led to them crashing occasionally and Karin having to roll to avoid falling in the middle of battle. It appeared that her partner was… unused to battle involving groups (most of the second division worked alone anyways) so that occasionally (read: often) caused a collision. It was not a big deal really, they were still able to be somewhat efficient about their fighting.

It just made it all the more obvious that he. Was. Not. Sensai.

Whatever, it was fine as a temporary pairing until the conflict was over. What really concerned her was Toshiro. After her boyfriend's slightly awkward goodbye that morning he had not even remotely improved. Stuttering, repeating sentences and deciding at the last second not to say something were normal for some people, but never for him. And it was only ever with her that it happened.

Was it Sensai? Could the girl's death and Karin's previous encouragement of him to ask her been the result? She doubted it, but it was always possib… no, it actually was not. She _knew_ Toshiro, there was no chance of that being the case. So, obviously, it was something else she may or may not have reason to be concerned about.

Though really, even after over a year and a half of dating (two years, if you count that one trip to the fair they had) there were still times when she was not able to tell what he was thinking.

It always frustrated her when that happened.

Maybe she could ask Rangiku. If it was something related to shinigami work then, other than Karin, she was most likely to know why Toshiro was acting a certain way. It could not hurt to ask… actually it might work great.

If nothing else Rangiku could try to bother Toshiro until he caved and explained what was wrong. While his skill in ignoring her and not snapping had gone up over the years (thanks to Karin's help) he had no real defense against both of them pestering him at the same time.

Though, really, the way Toshiro was acting was unusual even for the times when he acts unusual. He was not uncomfortable around her or obviously hiding something, he was just trying to say something to her. Maybe it had to do with the whole 'sleeping together' conversation they had earlier.

If that was the case, Rangiku, being the center of gossip she was, would most likely know and be able to tell her. Maybe Orihime would know… but she was doing so much fighting of the twelfth's experiment she probably had no time to actually talk with Karin, especially about that.

Then the next morning (which was apparently three hours away when the sky was still dark, but whatever) Karin would just have to talk to Rangiku and convince her to explain what was going on with Toshiro before the battle started.

Finishing up her thoughts, Karin felt the sleepiness in her eyes and started to even out her breathing, finally tired enough to fall asleep. Well, she would get her questions answered the next morning, it was fine to rest for a bit.

* * *

"Rangiku," Karin called out, causing the lieutenant to turn away from her group of gossiping friends and see Karin. "Can I ask you something real quick."

"Sure, sure," she said, waving the other shinigami away with a bright smile that had no place on _anyone's_ face at around 3:30 in the morning. "What's up?"

Glancing around slightly to make sure none of the other gossips could hear her, she turned to Rangiku and asked, "Has anything happened to Toshiro lately? He keeps seeming like he wants to ask me something, but never quite manages to. Is there anything I can help him with?"

At her words her Lieutenant's face twisted into a slightly pleased, extremely amused, and completely evil smile. Karin could admit to stepping back slightly in fear as Rangiku's face turned into- for the first time that Karin had seen-a smirk. She gave Karin a smile with far too many hidden meaning behind it for Karin to decifier.

"Oh, Karin. You don't need to worry about that, I promise. You don't need to worry about that at all…"

"But-"

"Trust me, young padawan, all will be explained in due time. You are not yet advanced enough with your understanding of social relationships to comprehend what has just occured here today."

"What the hell are you-"

"Calm, calm. You shall receive your answer when both you and the captain are ready. Until then, don't worry about looking into it, it will come when it comes."

"I don't really, why wouldn't I look into-"

"Shhhhh," Rangiku covered Karin's mouth with her hand and cut off her speech and push a finger in front of her mouth in a shushing motions. "You are not yet ready. All shall be explained in due time, I promise."

Satisfied with her not-really-an-answer Rangiku turned around and practically skipped back to her group of friends, leaving a very confused Karin behind to mull over her words.

* * *

1) I mean, I think. I know she's crazy powerful, but that seems like a bit much even for her. Then again, it's a little hard to tell with how rushed of an ending Bleach got, so please correct me on this if I'm wrong.

2) Yeah, I know, some of the stuff in this dream make pretty much no sense. But that's kinda the way dreams are! I've seen so many writers making dreams- especially nightmares- that are almost perfect reenactments of what would happen in real life, so I wanted to see if I could do something different. I'm sorry if that bothered anyone or took away from the tone at all, but I wanted to create a dream that was more like what my dreams resemble. I mean, it doesn't bother me when they do create dreams like that, but I wanted to try doing it myself.

3) To anyone who didn't know (which is unlikely, but there might be one of you) onee-chan is older sister.


	40. Chapter 40

The empty base gave Karin a perfect opportunity to keep to herself as she racked her mind to figure out what was wrong with her boyfriend. After Matsumoto's not-really-an-and-definitely-not-a-helpful-answer Karin had begun pacing back and forth while she tried to figure out what she could do.

At the beginning she had briefly considered Toshiro might want to break off their relationship. He seemed to be trying to talk to her about something, but always stopped right before actually saying it. That might be a sign that he was embarrassed to say he did not love her anymore.

As soon as she had the thought she had mentally slapped herself. She had gone through that train of thought already, she was perfectly comfortable actually trusting him this time around. And regardless, he was acting the same way he did when he was trying to ask her to go to the festival with him. It was now only a question of what she could do to help- if anything. It also brought up the question of if this was a relationship thing or a "I'm a captain and I need to give you orders on behalf of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads" thing.

Karin sighed and glanced up at the sky. It was already night and she would not have much time to sleep before Kann- the rebels arrived and she would need to go to battle. It would really be best for her to _try_ to get some sleep. So, with a straightened back and a firm replacement of her figurative mask for the people she might pass on the way to her room, she left her quiet grove and walked through the crowded base.

On the trip back to her room (tent) Karin heard several shinigami muttering to each other on varying topics. It seemed there was another fair in the area near the main Kuchiki household and many shinigami were considering going after all this was over. Maybe she would bring Toshiro there. Might help snap him out of his mood, if nothing else.

She dragged him out to do things like that all the time, come to think of it. In fact, one of the first things she could consider to be their 'date' (though they still had not started 'dating') was when she made him leave his office to go to the fair being held near the tenth division. That was now almost a year and a half ago.

It felt like it had been more recent than that. TIme flies.(1)

Karin had made it to the tent she was meant to be sleeping in for a pitiful handful of hours. For a second she glanced over to the tent she knew Toshiro was (supposed to be) sleeping in, her confident mask allowing a flicker of concern to pass through, before shaking her head and opening the door to her tent.

She would talk to him about it in the morning. There would be a period of time in which they were supposed to be up and ready for combat while they waited for the rebels to arrive, she could pull him aside then.

What annoyed Karin most of all was that somehow Rangiku knew what was going on in Toshiro's mind while she did not.

* * *

"Shiro, we need to talk." Karin saw Toshiro turn towards her in confusion, the new hesitation she had been seeing also present in his expression. He quickly covered up his emotions and turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Is there a concern I should be notified of?"

"Yup, right over here." Karin declared as she dragged her captain by the arm to an empty part on the edge of the base. Once she got far enough to be confident they were alone she spun on her heel and faced him.

He just looked around slightly in confusion.

" _Well_?" Karin asked, her patience reaching its breaking point.

Then, to her great frustration, Toshiro simply replied, "'Well', what?"

Clenching her fists together, Karin took several calming breaths before opening her eyes and sending Toshiro a heart-stopping glare. He was not embarrassed to admit he may have inched back slightly at her expression.

" _Well_ , why have you been acting so weird?! I know it's not that you don't care about me anymore - we're passed that part of our relationship - so what is it? It might surprise you to hear this, but I _do_ want you do be happy."

Toshiro looked at her in shock for a few seconds, his cheeks flushing lightly in embarrassment. Karin continued raising her eyebrow at him in impatience.

Finally, Toshiro sighed slightly and glanced around, simultaneously checking for any unwanted reiatsu signatures. Not finding any, he turned to Karin and motioned for her to follow him.

Begrudgingly, Karin did so and followed him through the base to an open plane right before a forest. The cool wind and bright, lively trees made it a picturesque scene, but otherwise meaningless.

"...Shiro… why are we here?"

Instead of answering, Toshiro turned to her with huge amounts of hesitation, but managed to take a deep breath and look up to meet her eyes. His icy turquoise met her ash gray and Karin felt herself unconsciously tensing as the silence stretched on longer and longer.

In her head, Karin was running through different ideas and theories on what the talk could be about. Did he need help planning another meeting? No, that would not be as nerve-wracking or as private. Maybe it was a problem with her performance in battle… but then he would have just told her, he never held back before. Could it be he did not want her to risk her life and was going to take her out of the fight?... No, definitely not. He was smart enough to know her strength was needed and had already seen what happens when the Gotei Thirteen try that to a Kurosaki through her brother. Maybe he wanted to bring up the topic of sleeping together again? Weird time to do it though.

Finally, he seemed to accept whatever mental struggle he had been experiencing while she went through theories and straightened up slightly, taking a deep breath but not losing focus.

"Karin… when I first met you in the world of the living we… didn't know anything about each other. You invited me to play soccer, but you didn't know I was a captain and, because of that, didn't treat me like one. I had always found it annoying when my sister did that, but it was different with you. She continued to view me as a little brother, while you immediately viewed me as an equal, a rival, a teammate."

Karin blinked at the sudden praise, but found herself internally happy. And apprehensive. Why would he say that unless he was going to have a 'but' later…

No, no, they had gotten past the assumptions. She just needed to wait and hear him out.

"I… and then you found out about who I was, but the position didn't really mean anything to you. You kept treating me like how you are now. And then you died and started working in my squad and, even with our relative positions, you didn't treat me any differently than you wanted to."

Karin laughed slightly, "Yeah, and then I had to train you to do the same thing. Which was ridiculous; you were pretty much the perfect guy for me except you try to put up a wall between us."

"I wasn't that bad-"

"You liked soccer, but wouldn't play because it didn't 'fit your position'. You were capable of making talking to me and, hell, even _beating_ me in a debate, but were too busy to consider trying. You were powerful enough to teach _me_ more about fighting, and inexperienced enough there were tips I could teach you as well, but never had time to spar because you were swamped with paperwork. Yeah, I think I know what I mean when I say you had everything I wanted except for the ability to show those parts of yourself."

"So I'm the only one who put up a mask? You're not _just_ an aggressive, athletic girl, despite what most of your 'fan club' seems to believe about you."

Karin just smirked back.

Toshiro sighed.

"I've gotten a bit off topic," Karin shrugged at Toshiro's glare "- but I found you really interesting when we first met. You were… different than everyone else in the court guard squads- and they are all pretty weird, but you're a different strange- so I kept paying attention to you. We started getting closer because of missions and general work and such. Then, as more time passed, I know I… fell in love with you.

"It was more awkward than I would have liked at first, but as time went on I know I just became more and more attached. And, in all honesty, for a while I was worried one of these battles would cause us to lose our chance. I kept putting this off, especially because i didn't want to distract you, but I don't think it's worth it for me to wait any longer. Especially if you're getting concerned and distracted over my body language."

"...So? What exactly is this all about?"

"I'm getting there, patience."

"Mmhm."

"Look, I've told you how I feel, but I don't want you to feel pressured at all by this. You can make whatever choice you want to if this it too much or going too fast. I just want you to know how I feel."

"About _what_?!" Karin finally snapped, her patience running dry. She hated whenever he was so deliberately vague.

Toshiro reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. Then, to her embarrassment, he sank down onto one knee in front of her.

"Karin, will you marry me?"

Five words. Five words was all it took for Karin's mask to completely shatter as she brought her hands up to her mouth and gave a startled gasp, her eyes blinking back tears. She looked up and met his eyes, which were gazing at her apprehensive, nervous, cautious, but completely genuine.

"Yes!"

Toshiro blinked up, startled for a moment, before enveloping her in a tight embrace before she looked up and kissed him. The rational half of Karin's mind which told her this-is-a-bad-time-you-need-to-go-fight-soon was resolutely ignored as she relaxed into her boyfriend's (fiance's) arms.

Eventually, the suppressed half of her mind broke through and she stomped on his foot.

He jerked slightly at the sudden attack, " _What_?!"

"You idiot," she breathed out, still wrapping her arms around him even as she spoke. "You think _now_ is the best time for you to drop a bombshell like this? What if I have trouble focusing on the fight?"

"I'm confident that won't be an issue, one of your strengths in combat is not allowing yourself to be distracted. Besides, do you have any idea how distracted I would be if I kept thinking that as soon as the fight was over I'd be able to finally ask you to marry me? There's no way I would have been able to get anything done."

"...Yeah, guess this is a better option than that. Still hate you though."

Toshiro smiled as a small laugh escaped his mouth, "I'm sure you do."

Karin continued to hug her boyfriend and felt, somehow, that in her inner world the 'tree' representing her bond with Toshiro had just grown in both size and decorations. She would have to check it out the next time she entered her inner world, it had been a while since she had last seen her zanpakuto spirit.

When they finally split Karin reached down and picked up the box which had fallen onto the floor. There was an x made out of one gold band and one silver band with a large, round jewel in the center. And, on closer inspection, it seemed he had used kido to add various frost designs to the jewel.

"I wanted to make it a bit more personal than just buying you one. Besides, with your access to the Shiba bank- new as it is- I highly doubt you would be too impressed with a show of wealth."

Karin rolled her eyes, "Regardless of my access to the Shiba money you know I'm not the kinda girl who'd be impressed by something a stupid as that."

"I suppose so. And I'd like to think I know more about you than anyone else."

"Careful, your brother-in-law might get defensive about that- he doesn't say it, but I think he likes to believe he knows his little sisters best."

As Karin finished speaking both she and Toshiro froze at her use of the phrase 'brother in law'. For all that they had understood what the words meant, they had not yet accepted the meaning.

"This is really happening…" Karin muttered. Toshiro nodded and took her hand to put on the ring.

"It really is."

* * *

"Alright… so what did you want to tell us?" Ichigo looked back and forth between Toshiro and Karin, who stood across from them holding each other's hands. He, Orihime, Momo and Isshin were all asked to come to a desolate cliff at the base, allowing them privacy but also enabling them to join a fight at any second.

"We just came to tell you… we'd… I," Toshiro tried, but continued to stumble over the words.

"Wow, Shiro. Aren't you supposed to be the leading authority for shinigami when it comes to meetings? You told me just fine, why's this so different?"  
"It's completely different, especially in terms of probability of success."

"Fine, I'll do it then," Karin rolled her eyes and looked up at her brother and father. "We're engaged."

For two seconds, there was silence. Every person needed a moment to make sure they had not misheard or hallucinated what Karin had just told them.

Then, as soon as the words sank in, everyone reacted.

"Oh my god!" Orihime yelled and ran forward to pull them both into a hug, "Finally! I was getting bored of the author dragging out this story! That's so sweet!"

Isshin had started crying to one of his Masaki posters and no one could make out the words he was saying beyond "Karin", "daughter" "second son" "growing up" and "happy".

Momo joined Orihime in celebrating the news, going around the back to hug the couple as well.

Ichigo was, meanwhile, frozen still in a state of confused shock as he repeated the words over and over again in his mind. After a dozen seconds of this, he finally let the "protective-big-brother" side of him take over and he stepped in front of both of them, looking back in forth.

Toshiro tensed up in apprehension.

Ichigo turned to Karin and really _looked_ at her. At how much happier she was with Toshiro. At how much they made each other relax. At the determination in her eyes which told him "I don't care what you think. I'm going through with this."

"You want this?"

Karin looked slightly surprised by the question, but her resolve strengthened and she glared up, daring him to challenge her. "I know I do."  
Her words caused Ichigo to relax as he looked between the couple one last time. "Then you have my blessing."

Toshiro stared at him in shock while Karin smiled and tightened her hold around his hand. Her brother really could not resist giving his sisters anything they wanted.

For several minutes Toshiro and Karin were subjected to gushing, congratulations and teasing from their 'immediate family members', though Karin had a feeling her dad had known this would happen for a while now. It annoyed her that she could never tell what their dad (because really, he was the closest thing Toshiro had to a dad too) would know; he could go from lovable idiot to an informed, dangerous captain at the drop of a hat. Still, the comfortable air made it hard for her to really mind his stupid actions and teasing, regardless of whether the emotions he showed were genuine.

It was… peaceful. This was what they were fighting to maintain.

Then they received the alarm; it was time to fight again.

Ichigo and Orihime immediately left to continue fighting the twelfth experiment which could only be restrained by a kido barrier for so long. Isshin went to provide aid to the fourth division, putting his skills as a doctor to good use.

Toshiro turned to Karin and pulled her into a hug so that their foreheads touched. He remembered buying Karin the clip that he could feel in her hair and relaxed slightly, trying to steady his breathing.

"Stay safe."

She looked up and kissed him. "You too."

They nodded at each other and left, neither attempting to stop the other from doing what they each knew they had to do. A simple shunpo and the cliff they had stood on was as silent as it was empty.

* * *

It was a mess.

It was an absolute mess.

Toshiro felt the shinigami were usually trained enough to know how to stay in something _resembling_ a formation while in combat (with the exception of battles against fewer, stronger opponents like Aizen, who they were not trained for), but apparently that was not the case.

There was no base for the shinigami to defend, so the battle had turned into something more closely resembling a free-for-all than two distinct sides. Toshiro knew some of the rebels were dressed in similar clothing to the shinigami uniform, causing the shinigami to not notice them until they had already killed several officers.

He had no idea where Karin had gone, but was pretty sure it was inside the base. Hopefully the shinigami were doing a better job there than outside.

Another rebel dressed in black had just killed three shinigami all stronger than her before being taken down. He needed to end this now.

"Shinigami!" Toshiro yelled, allowing some of his 'captain voice' and reiatsu to flicker into the words to attract immediate attention. The risky part was that this might distract them, but Toshiro was banking on the hope that their reflexes would be enough to save them for a short while.

He took a deep breath.

"You can feel which souls are the rebels! Shinigami all have distinctive traces in their reiatsu from what is taught at the academy and living in a place with little hollow activity. If you can feel the difference, lead anyone who can't. Only trust people you personally know to make that call!"

Even with the fighting still going on, the shinigami were able to perfectly understand the command. Soon- and partly due to the shinigami not having enough power to continue taking prisoners- there was an obvious increase in the amount of shinigami to rebels. Toshiro relaxed slightly from his spot in the air.

Feeling that the other shinigami were mostly in control, Toshiro began searching for the outliers to the rule he had just mentioned. Some of the rebels were sure to be somewhat trained- Kanna was a perfect example- so he would have to try to take them out before too many people were hurt.

As he scanned across the battle he noticed one soul who had reiatsu which appeared to be identical to any normal- albeit powerful- shinigami on first glance. On a second look, however, it was apparent that he had spent a long time in the area surrounding the base- too long for it to have been just the past few days. In addition to that… something just seemed… familiar about he reiatsu of that specific soul.

Keeping a healthy dose of caution in mind, Toshiro hid his reiatsu and moved behind the soul. He was wearing a shinigami uniform as well as a wide brimmed hat which obstructed his face. For now he appeared to be playing the role of the helpful shinigami, but Toshiro noticed he was not actually hurting any of the rebels, despite his obvious skill and power.

Unsheathing Hyorinmaru, Toshiro tensed for a second, then, hoping for a quick and easy kill, moved silently and striked.

 **C _l_ a _n_ g**!

Another zanpakuto had blocked his attack. The soul he had been targeting noticed him at the last second and had moved with speed completely unlike what he had been using a minute ago to block it. The resulting air waves had knocked away both the souls next to them and his hat.

Takahiro.

Toshiro had hoped he would be wrong.

Immediately both opponents moved back to gain distance, cautiously watching the person across from them. With no other souls nearby, there was no one to get in the way of them using a bit more power than before.

Toshiro attacked first.

He remained calm in his attack, even as Takahiro dodged by flash stepping above him. The subsequent attack from Takahiro forced Toshio to turn around and block, once again sending shock waves through the surrounding area. Neither boy hesitated for a second before continuing their attack, soon sending them into a staggeringly-fast dance of swords.

To any onlookers, they would appear to be teleporting through the surrounding area as they flash stepped in synch. One moment they were locking swords directly under a large tree, the next Takahiro was dodging Toshiro's attack in the middle of an empty space in front of the base. After two seconds of that Takahiro had practically pushed Toshiro against the wall of the base before Toshiro used incantation-less kido to force the other boy to back up.

Knowing they would only be a distraction, the other souls had long since backed away, all not wanting to distract their side of the battle. The shockwaves continuously sending them flying also helped make their decision.

Toshiro held back surprise as he realized Takahiro was also extremely skilled at fighting with kido. The noble had been brought up to be prepared in "all areas of combat" as they had no strong support from one of the great noble clans. A logical choice and, in hindsight, a highly dangerous one.

While Toshiro could not stop someone from learning to fight on their own, he resolved to keep a more close eye on the noble families who made a habit of that.

Toshiro soon found that- while not using shikai- their ability was about equal. He had around the same amount of combat experience as Toshiro was young enough that his combat-heavy job did not overwhelm Takahiro's greater age. Toshiro wondered when that would finally stop being a problem for him.

Then again, neither of them were really going all-out. In fact, both boys were fighting without the use of highly-destructive kido or shikai, nevermind bankai. The reason for this was simple; their allies who surrounded them. Their full power, even just for a second, could completely smash all surrounding fighters to the ground and possibly knock them out. In the current situation, leaving them vulnerable to any stronger souls would be really, really bad.

So, in the interests of not leaving their allies and colleges vulnerable to attacks from other souls, both boys were locked in a competition of pure swordsmanship. Toshiro had to work hard to continuously suppress the little spark of excitement and competition which kept popping up from the back of his mind.

Takahiro attacked again, Toshiro blocked again. It would appear that both souls had similar levels of endurance, so waiting the fight out was also not a viable option. Toshiro scowled; he needed to do something to end this.

He would have… prefered to be able to find a solution which did not involve killing his fr-... Takahiro, but Soul Society had long since trained him to push aside personal feelings for the sake of the three dimensions. That included the strong splashes of guilt Toshiro could feel inside himself.

If he was going to completely end the fight as fast as possible the most foolproof method would be to simply use his shikai. The only question was how to get into a situation where he could. Manipulating Takahiro away from the base would probably be too obvious as there was no real way to make that subtle. He also would probably not be able to move the other shinigami away from the area, especially because that would mean he would have to fight all the other rebels as well. If only… wait, maybe he would be able to move Takahiro after all. He just needed an opening.

As he thought, the fight continued and the surrounding landscape was worn down. Eventually the two reached an unobstructed, open field where no other shinigami or rebels were present for the surrounding fifteen feet. The one sign of "life" was a large tree which Toshiro began to push Takahiro towards.

"Hado no Rokujusan!" Toshiro whispered, allowing his reiatsu to gather towards his left hand, " _Raikouhou_!"

Even incantation-less,the yellow lightning aimed at Takahiro's feet caused enormous cracks in the tree behind him as Takahiro was forced to dodge by moving up. Toshiro followed his retreating opponent to the open air, giving him the opportunity he had been waiting for. His zanpakuto was one of the few which actually worked better in the sky than on the ground.

"R _e_ **i** _g_ n ** _o_** v _e_ **r** _t_ h ** _e_** f _r_ **o** _s_ t _ **e** d_ h ** _e_** a _v **e**_ **n** _s_ , **H _you_ ri _n_ m _aru_**! "

Takahiro's eyes widened in shock, before he quickly attempted to escape by creating a kido barrier around himself. However, the barrier did not stop water from existing within it, and Takahiro was encased in a frozen block of ice within seconds. The last thing Toshiro saw was the slightly terrified look on the usual calm boy's face before he fell to the ground and shattered with the ice. At this, Toshiro forced himself to look away.

He could not afford to get distracted.

The knowledge that he had done the right thing did nothing to help with that.

* * *

1) This is mostly an inside joke for me, but that is about the same amount of time since I posted the first chapter for this story so that's kinda cool…


	41. Chapter 41

There was a chill in the air as Karin walked through the rebel base. Which actually made perfect sense considering that Toshiro Hitsugaya was fighting nearby. Still, it made Karin slightly uncomfortable as she moved through enemy territory, taking down any opponents she came across.

Focusing on that did help her keep her mind off other things. Her mind had an annoying habit of reminding her of a certain shy girl who was always willing to help build homes for Ryukongai children..

As she shook the thought from her mind she felt an enormous burst of Toshiro's spiritual pressure from… the sky… for some reason. She subconsciously touched the red clip in her hair, relaxing with the knowledge that it was still present. She had spent so many hours training with the blade the clip could produce that it was almost as reassuring to her as her own zanpakuto.

...Almost.

It, at the very least, felt more natural than the ring she had been given only a few short hours ago. As beautiful as it was- not that Karin or Toshiro really cared about physical appearance- the rings had a high chance of becoming a distraction during battle, a fact both Karin and Toshiro agreed on. Toshiro took no offense to Karin's decision to leave it with her father, who was helping the fourth with his abilities as a doctor.

Another group of rebels were in Karin's sight and she took a handful of seconds to get rid of them. Though she knew it was cruel, sadistic, and illogical she could not help feeling like the blood she spilled was a sort of retribution for Sensai's death. She was unbelievably grateful said girl would never know of Karin's thoughts.

Suddenly, she felt a recognizable reiatsu coming closer from her right and turned to see Kanna standing before her. Kanna, who had been one of the few to match her in sparring, who had told her some of the things she kept hidden from everyone else (though apparent not as much as Kairn had thought), who had been one of Karin's closest friends, who obviously was trying to hide how hesitant she was to fight Karin, who Karin knew she had to kill.

The captains agreed Kanna was too dangerous to be left alive; every shinigami had orders to kill rather than capture.

Karin unsheathed her blade and saw- for a brief second- Kanna's expression falter, before she took a deep breath and lifted her zanpakuto up as well.

They hesitated for a second, ready to react at any moment. Resolute determination took over Kanna's expression as she tried - and failed - to hide the guilt that was creeping through. Karin had not been supposed to survive Kanna's betrayal, it should have been quick, easy, and sparred Karin the pain of losing in the following conflict. Kanna bit back a curse as she realized she must have hesitated in her betrayal as well.

Karin attacked first.

Her more aggressive fighting style caused her to begin by hoping for a fatal attack. She used her superior shunpo speed to move close to Kanna's body and slashed across the other girl's neck.

Or she would have…

"Hado no Ichi, _Sho_!"

Karin instead found herself pushed back into the wall, crashing through it. Her only consolation was that Kanna had not been quite fast enough to get away unscathed and now had an inch long cut near her neck. Hopefully that would make it harder for her to speak and use kido in the future.

Kanna chased after Karin, the rhythm of the fight taking over and allowing her to mostly react on instinct and habit. Karin had already recovered from her impact with the wall and jumped up so she would not trip on the surrounding debre. A quick shunpo brought her directly behind Kanna, who immediately dodged.

"Hado no Sanjiuchi, _Shakkaho_!"

Karin ducked under the fire, ignoring the way it burned the tips of her hair and the resulting explosion behind her in favor of trying to slash Kanna from her waist to her shoulder. Her attack was dodged again. Barely.

Kanna had to take a calming breath to keep her fear from showing while Karin paid her emotions no mind. The guilt at having been such a bad friend that she was betrayed by one and got the other killed was also pushed as far down as it could go. By this point she was simply relying on instinct in training, which was probably best for a war anyways.

Kanna jumped back and slammed her hand on the floor, beginning her incantation. Karin used a quick shunpo to move behind the other girl, hoping to avoid whatever trap was being laid down.

"Hado no shi, _Tsuzuri Raiden_!"

Karin mentally cursed and, having remembered the effects of that particular kido spell, jumped up and landed on a reiatsu platform. Around Kanna a large electrical current moved from her hand to every inch of the surrounding floor and walls in the hallway. For a spell that was only meant for using an object as a connection for electricity between the caster and the target this was quite an impressive (and dangerous) result.

Karin had a sudden memory of the friendly competitive spirit which had previously existed between the two of them and found those emotions of despairing nostalgia harder to ignore than her guilt.

Seeing that her attack had not worked and that Karin was hesitant to move any closer Kanna took the offensive and raised her right hand toward Karin.

"Hado no Sanjusan, _Sokatsui_!"

Deciding to try something different, instead of dodging Karin greatly raised her reiatsu and met the attack head-on (in a manner oddly similar to her brother), using the flames as a wall to obstruct Kanna's view of her. Kanna realized what was happening a moment too late and received another cut, a three inch red line on her left arm, before she managed to completely back away.

Unfortunately, Karin's defense had not been perfect and she was sporting slight burns on both her skin and her uniform. She would probably not be able to do that again successfully.

She took a deep, hacking breath and tried to clear her lungs of the smoke while Kanna watched her, hesitant to attack again and receive another injury.

For a moment the two did nothing but make eye contact, each sporting her own glare towards the other. During this time, Karin thought over her strategy and how she could fix it to be a more fitting match.

The kido was annoying, so she would need to constantly be on guard for it. Her biggest problem was that the distance she was generating was making it far too easy for Kanna to continuously fire at her. Attempts to create close contact situations had usually ended in her favor… until Kanna found a way to turn the whole surrounding area into an electrically - charged weapon. It would be a heavy cardio workout, but it might be best for Karin if she continued to shunpo in and out of the attack range. She tightened her grip on her zanpakuto and watched Kanna tense.

She hesitated for another moment.

Then she _moved_.

Before Kanna completely understood what had happened Karin was to her left, slicing across her neck. Kanna, who had been left no time for an incantation, quickly reacted by casting a wordless bakudo seventy-eight. The hexagonal barrier, being cast wordlessly, was far less powerful than it otherwise would have been and Karin's zanpakuto broke through easily. Unfortunately, it gave Kanna just enough time to back away and Karin followed her strategy by backing up as well.

Kanna blinked and suddenly Karin was directly in front of her, slicing up. Biting back the fear and panic which briefly overwhelmed her, she managed to lean back enough to dodge, though not without receiving a large, shallow cut across her stomach. She hastily backed up.

"Bakudo no Hachi, _Seki_!"

The spell was, once again, not an attacking hado, but a bakudo. Kanna had no choice but to meet Karin's new hit-and-run style with more defensive measures. The other girl had lowered some of her defense to give herself more speed, but Kanna doubted she would have any chance of hitting Karin now.

Seki generated a 'shield' on her arm which, when hit, would cause temporary paralysis to the attacker. It was not so much that she thought she could use it against Karin as it was that she was sure Karin knew the spell and would be more careful. Her thoughts were supported when, the next time Karin attacked her, it was to her legs instead.

Having expected the attack, it was far easier for her to dodge and retaliate with her first zanpakuto attack of the day. Unsheathing it in less than a second, Kanna attacked with a slice to Karin's arm which was blocked.

The two girls made eye contact for a moment, anger and frustration apparent in each of their features. Anger that they had to fight each other. Frustration that they were having so much trouble winning. Desperation to win and return to the fight against people who did not make them feel so conflicted.

"Hado no shi," Kanna whispered, and she saw Karin's eyes widen, " _Byakurai_!"

Karin had enough forewarning that she was able to dodge, but it momentarily sent her off balance. Kanna used that moment to parry and force her zanpakuto flying, allowing it to clatter to the ground ten feet away.

When Karin regained her balance the first thing she did was back up, attempting to shunpo towards her zanpakuto.

" _Shakkaho_!"

Even the incomplete incantation was powerful enough to collapse the floor of the base directly under the sword, sening it falling to the next level. Karin had backed up to dodge the kido, and now would have little chance of getting her zanpakuto back before the end of the fight.

She was confident in her hand to hand combat… but not quite as confident in her hand to hand+zanpakuto+kido combat abilities. It also seemed unlikely she would receive reinforcements as anyone strong enough to make a difference in this battle was far away from her current location. She refused to allow someone weaker participate, she had learned her lesson when she saw what happened to Sensai.

Kanna relaxed slightly, knowing she had the advantage. Karin sank down to the ground, crouching with one hand and one knee touching the floor. She had to be ready to move at any given moment.

Wind brushed by the two of them and Kanna lifted her zanpakuto, preparing to attack. She would go for the legs, she decided, there would be no point in killing Karin. When she had this much of an advantage Karin posed less of a threat and through Karin they might be able to get information on the enemy's abilities. There was no need to kill her.

Karin's thoughts, however, directly opposed Kanna's. She was considering what the best way she could get a fatal attack in would be. Without her zanpakuto the fight was highly dangerous, she would need to end it as quickly as possible. The idea of killing Kanna did not sit well with her, especially given their similar emotions toward the situation. However, thinking of Sensai- the kind, beautiful, helpful girl who only joined the fight because she wanted to make the Ryukongai children safer- lying dead at Karin's feet cemented her determination to destroy the rebellion.

Kanna waited for Karin to make the first move, knowing the other girl was faster. If Karin tried to run, however, she was sure she would be able to cast kido to trap her. Without her zanpakuto Karin would be much easier to catch, so a strong, low-level kid should do the trick. Maybe Hainawa?

Her concerns were unnecessary, however, as Karin's next move was a silent shunpo to her followed by a strong kick to Kanna's chest. Kanna moved forward and jammed the other girl, causing the attack to miss. It was instantly followed by a punch which pushed Karin away from Kanna enough for the former to manage a decent head kick.

Kanna blocked it with her zanpakuto and attacked Karin, only to be dodged once again. At this, Kanna decided to move back and gain distance, her lack of progress causing minor levels of frustration.

Seeing what was happening, Karin tried to close the distance between the two of them, only for Kanna to set up a barrier around herself with kido. Here, Karin had to back up, giving them both a chance to breathe.

At this point, Kanna was sure she would be able to bring Karin in without killing her, so there was no reason not to. The two girls were equal in fighting ability, but during the fight Karin's mistake seemed to have unquestionably sealed the end of the fight in her favor.

Having caught her breath, Kanna lowered the barrier and attacked. A repeated pattern of attack-and-dodge ensued, causing quakes and craters in the base floor.

Kanna eventually took an attack to her leg to get behind Karin, leaving the latter vulnerable to a choke from the back. Kanna relaxed as she wrapped an arm around Karin's neck and squeezed. There was nothing Karin could really do to her from this position without a weapon; she had won the battle.

Only, instead of giving up like Kanna expected, Karin reached a hand up to her head and grabbed onto the red clip she was wearing. For a moment, Kanna was worried that a lack of oxygen might be making her former friend dangerously desperate. Then she remembered the explanation Karin had once given her about the hair clip.

A weapon from Toshiro. Of course it was.

Kanna was only barely able to escape Karin's attack, earning a large cut on her arm in the process. With both of her arms now sporting significant damage it would be difficult to hold her zanpakuto… and now Karin had access to a sword.

She had just lost her every advantage.

As she stared at Karin she was briefly reminded of Toshiro. Before she had attacked Karin, she developed a bit of a crush on the captain. Going away for a while helped her see that he would have never looked at her over Karin.

Sometimes she really hated being right.

Injured and unable to really move, she recalled the news of the shinigami volunteering to help repair various Rukongai villages and felt the last of her fighting spirit trickle away. Kanna gave a small, sad, tired smile, deciding that none of this was worth fighting Karin over. Kanna looked Karin in the eyes, but did not resist when her former friend thrust the blade through her heart.

As she began to fall to the ground, she was overwhelmed with the knowledge that this was never going to end any other way. She just did not have the resolve to kill her former friend over this in the same way Karin (rightfully) did. She had felt her brother's reiatsu disappear a short while ago, but only now had the time to really consider what that might mean.

They had lost.

The burning pain in her chest made that concept an obvious, undeniable reality.

There was disappointment, anger, pain. Was this all she had managed to amount to? As she lay on the ground bleeding out she looked up at Karin and saw the other girl looking back. Karin was still somewhat in a combat stance, ready to respond if anyone decided to try anything. But- and Kanna hoped this was not just the hopes of a dying soul- Kanna thought she could also see the shinigami blinking back tears and guilt at her actions.

The light started to fade for Kanna, and Karin became harder and harder to see. Kanna supposed it was ironic; the first time they met Kanna had picked a fight with the other girl too. Karin won both times.

Well, maybe this was alright. There was nothing left for her to really live for. So long as Toshiro and Karin kept their promise of making the Rukongai better as time went on then, hey, maybe she indirectly helped speed along what it was she wanted to do. Who knew?

The blood in her throat made it impossible for her to speak anymore. She was sure that Karin was staying to make sure she was dead, but without the adrenaline of battle did not have the mental fortitude to slice her head off and make sure. Then again, who was she to judge, she had tried attacking Karin when she first betrayed soul society and still had not been able to kill her. Takahiro did always tell her to be sure she succeed in her assassination before she left.

Some part of her brain wondered if this was what people meant when they said "your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die".

Her thoughts were getting slower. Even the pain was disappearing now. She knew her breathing had stopped a while ago. She had expected, if this was going to happen, that she would die kicking and screaming and full of righteous anger as she promised that she would make a difference in her next life.

Instead she felt... quiet. Not quite satisfied, but the result was… acceptable. She decided she was fine with this result. Her eyes closed and her last breath stopped, but she thought she might have felt Karin's tear hit her hand. Maybe she had just imagined that. Karin really had no reason to feel sad about killing a girl who…

She never managed to finish her thought.

* * *

Karin stared down at the corpse of the soul in front of her. Kanna was dead. Because of her. Karin had never even fought an arrancar to the death, this was the first time she had killed a 'human' soul.

How had her brother managed to do this to Ulquiorra at _fifteen_ and still come out all right? Or had she just never really understood her brother until now?

Her thoughts were soon overcome with exhaustion, and, despite knowing she should be continuing to fight the rebels, Karin suddenly found she could not keep her eyes open. Knowing that she probably would not be able to defeat _anyone_ in her current state she laid down to rest her eyes for a moment. It would just be for a second, so it was fine. She could keep fighting some more afterwards. Her world tipped over as she laid down and darkened as her eyes closed and breathing evened.

When Karin opened her eyes again she found herself in the tent designed to house the patients of the fourth division. After spending several minutes cursing herself for falling asleep while working she tried to figure out if there was anything wrong with her that would cause her to be in the fourth.

Just as she had managed to sit up a healer came in and pushed her back down on the bed. Karin wanted to protest, but despite the fourth's reputation as being weak you _never_ mess with a healer who has a patient. Karin had learned that lesson the first time she had seen her dad- her stupid, optimistic, dramatic, unashamed dad- become serious when a patient of his endangered herself. Karin seeing that was actually one of the only reasons why she had always been more teasing than serious when she called him 'Goat-face'.

So, after being gently but forcefully- how would that even work?- pushed back onto the bed she finally received her explanation from said healer.

"You're suffering from high reiatsu depletion, you can move around, but for the first few days we'd like you to stay on bed arrest, alright? We're worried too much movement from you will cause you to collapse again." Karin blushed and wanted to protest that she-did- _not_ -collapse-she- _chose_ -to-rest-her-eyes-for-a-moment, but she could already guess how that would turn out.

The healer went on to describe how reiatsu depletion was not something even "Kurosaki Orihime-sama" was able to heal so she could forget any chance of escaping until she was given the clear. Apparently it would take "less than a week" so the healers had no problems holding her captive against her will.

That had to be breaking some law, right?

"Oh, and your boyfriend, Hitsugaya-taicho, is the one who carried you here so you can talk to him and ask what happened. He was just given the report that you're awake so I'd expect him to be here soon." Karin flushed again at the idea of her having to be carried to the healers and wondered if she had been given any drugs to make her react so emotionally to everything.

Suddenly, the healer turned to the door and several seconds later Karin felt Toshiro's reiatsu approaching. Caught between annoyance at her even-lower-than-usual sensing abilities and happiness and being able to get her questions answered Karin ended greeting him with a hesitant, lopsided smile. For a moment Toshiro wondered if he appeared at a bad time, but the healer smiled at him and stood up.

"Well, I'll give the two of you some privacy. Hitsugaya-taicho, if you try to make her leave or enable her to leave before we have given our approval I will triple the time she is required to stay here."

"...Understood."

With another smile and wave the healer left the two high ranking military officers both submissive and terrified of her authority. It took Toshiro several seconds to turn away from the door and look back at Kairn.

"Is she new? I don't remember any healer outside of Unohana and possibly Kiyone being so intimidating."

"She might be? She didn't really act like someone who's new…. Do you think she could be a member from another division who was transferred over? I can't think of another explanation."

"...Maybe," Toshiro trailed off, continuing to not look Karin in her eyes. The pair stood in an awkward silence for several seconds which they had not experienced since before they became a couple.

Toshiro mostly stared at the floor, while Karin looked behind him at the clock on the wall. It continued to move in a steady pattern, one tick at a time. The longer the two refused to speak or interact or even _look_ at each other the more awkward the situation became. Karin blamed whatever drugs she had been given.

As she sat in silence Karin briefly wondered if the reason Toshiro refused to look at her was because she had killed Kanna. He knew that was their job, but maybe he did not expect her to actually be able to do it. If that was true, maybe he did not want to be in a relationship with her anymore.

' _Even though he proposed_?' Her mind asked.

' _Maybe_ ,' she replied.

It was not like she could not understand, she was disgusted with herself too. The longer she sat in silence the more the guilt of what she had done crashed down on her, not at all helped by the drugs she was now _sure_ were in her system.

"...Karin… Look, I'm…" Karin glanced up apprehensively, waiting to see what he would tell her. "I'm sorry."

Karin's heart sank. She had expected it, of course, but she had hoped… hoped he would tell her he did not care about what she had done and that he loved her anyways. Hoped he would not have come to tell her he was breaking off their engagement and that he did not love her anymore and that she was a monster who murdered their friend and that-

"I'm so sorry, I should have… I practically set you up into a situation where you had to kill your friend. I'm so, so sorry. Please, please, please don't hate me. I didn't… if I had known she was there I would have done… I'm sorry. I know it was my fault you were put into that situation because I'm your captain and ordered you to go there, but I didn't intend for… I'm sorr-"

"What are you talking about?"

"I… What?"

"It's… I thought… aren't you here to say you hate me?"

" _What_?! Why would you- I'm asking you not to hate me!"

"But I thought… what?"

Toshiro's icy teal eyes stared at her in the sort of confusion he usually reserved for his lieutenant's antics. Karin's ash gray stared at him with an expression that implied she thought he was either insane or an idiot. They continued to make eye contact for several seconds before the constant stress Karin had been feeling for the past few minutes finally made her snap and collapse into giggles. Toshiro smiled and blinked away tears from his eyes while Karin began to have trouble breathing.

Finally, Karin was able to get back enough oxygen to speak and turned to her fiance. She sent him a warm, genuine smile. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

1) Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please review.


	42. Chapter 42

For the first several minutes after waking up, all Karin did was talk to Toshiro. Rather than discussing anything meaningful or important their time was spent just appreciating being in each other's presence. Unfortunately, after an hour the healers started to get annoyed with them (a certain terrifying healer, specifically).

Both Karin and Toshiro froze when the healer from earlier opened the door so forcefully that it crashed into the wall with a deafening BANG. Karin could swear she heard the door crack a little when it impacted the wall.

"As nice as it is that you two are getting a chance to talk, I'm afraid I have to intervene. Hitsugaya-taicho, you were asked to come here so that you could update Kurosaki Karin on what has happened since she fainted. As she has expressed no notable signs of memory loss, I'm afraid I have to request you stop spending so much time flirting and get to work."

Both Karin and Toshiro prided themselves in their 'we're-going-to-accomplish-things-while-you-idiots-are-over-here-wasting-time' attitudes, so it makes sense that both of them struggled to fight down blush at the healer's words. Toshiro turned to her and cleared his throat, his face slowly turning its normal pale again.

"Right, I was asked to update you on the progress which has occured with the rebellion since you fell asleep. To start off, Kanna has been confirmed as a casualty of war… as well as Takahiro."

Karin remembered the sudden bursts of Toshiro's reiatsu she had felt and suspected that, coupled with the unusual hesitation in Toshiro's words, meant he had something to do with it. It was ironic how, for all his ability to calmly discuss theories and psychology and battle plans, he always began to hesitate when talking about emotions.

Personally, Karin thought it was adorable.

Or she, at least, tried to focus on that rather than the heart-stopping guilt which came from his actual words. The fact that Toshiro might have done something similar helped her slightly, but she found herself trying to ignore that train of thought entirely.

It was… surprisingly difficult to do.

"...Alright… so, what happened after? What's… what's happening now?"

"Your brother and sister in law-" "Soon to be yours as well," Karin whispered with a smirk, "-yes, well… regardless, they managed to destroy the experiment from the twelfth division and were here to look after you until just recently. Apparently, Kazui, their infant son, (1) was causing trouble for the people they left him with, so they decided to return home. They'll probably be back soon now that you've woken up."

Karin nodded, glad that one of her biggest questions had been answered. "And the second division? How did all that planning and sneaky ninja stuff actually work out for them?"

"Rather well actually. They managed to infiltrate the base and kill every one of the political leaders of the organization. Our captives have been placed in cells where they will either undergo therapy and community service or be kept there for concerns about their mental health."

"Are you sure it's really 'concerns about their mental health' and not 'fear of their power'?"

"I am, they're going to recieve help for any mental concerns by a group of shinigami from the fourth division. Both captains and family members or friends will be allowed to perform regular check ups on the patients, though it may be from the other side of a thick sheet of glass."

"And the community service? Is that really an okay punishment?"

"The other side has been defeated. As cruel as it sounds we really have no other use for them and no other convenient way to constantly check up on them. It'll probably be so much community service that it'll take up most of the rest of their afterlife, but yes, they'll be receiving orders to perform large amounts of community service."

"Sensai did it voluntarily," Karin bit out, then immediately regretted it. Whatever the drugs in her system were, she needed to stop saying things she did not mean to. Karin hesitantly looked up at Toshiro, wondering if he had not heard yet. Blame for that would almost be worse than for Kanna.

The guilty expression on Toshiro's face clearly answered that question. After several seconds of drawn-out silence, he looked up at her and gave her a tired, broken smile.

"Yes, she did." He took a deep breath and shook himself out of the state he was in, meeting her eyes with a confident gaze and body language once again. "They will not be anywhere near as talented or voluntary as Sensai was, but our efforts to repair houses in various villages will continue with their help."  
"For all that you phrased it like that, I get the impression we're going to sorta become their babysitters…"

"That's… not entirely incorrect."

"Wonderful."

Karin's comment earned her a small smile from Toshiro which made her smirk. She looked over at him and wondered how long he would be able to stay with her in the hospital.

"Do you have something you need to be doing right now?"

"I have paperwork I should work on, but that's something I can do here. Would you mind if I stayed with you- at least until your family arrives- doing it?"

"Is that even a real question?" Karin asked rhetorically. "Course not, stay as long as you want to. When Goat-face and Ichi-nii and Hime show up we can bother them together."

"Well… that certainly sounds entertaining," Toshiro mumbled as he pulled out a large stack of paper and got out his pen. Karin smiled (smirked) at him and nodded.

"Sure does."

* * *

Orihime popped her head into the room just before Karin and Toshiro planned on having dinner. She looked over at both of them (and the large, towering stack of finished and unfinished paperwork) and gave them a pleasant smile. She was soon followed by Ichigo, who had obviously been chasing after her.

It always amazing to Toshiro and Karin how Orihime could always make the fastest soul- barring Yoruichi- chase after her. Karin supposed it was justified redemption for how long Orihime spent chasing after Ichigo without the latter noticing. Matsumoto apparently thought it was adorable.

They were soon followed by Isshin, who collapsed through the door and landed in a heap on the ground. The identical embarrassed looks Toshiro and Ichigo were wearing spoke volumes for how well they knew him.

Speaking -or thinking- of that, Karin remembered wondering how Ichigo could be so skilled at getting into a combat mindset, even to the point of fighting to the death as a teenager. There was… a strong chance the man collapsed in a pile of limbs on the ground before her was responsible for that.

Well, if he was able to develop one child into becoming the epitome of power and strength in the soul reaper world and the other into becoming a high-ranking military member then it was entirely possible it was purposeful. Isshin stood up and smiled with a goofy expression, before running forward and checking Karin out himself, making sure she was safe. She knew he actually cared about his kids, but…

There was no way Ichigo could become the perfect weapon with influence only starting when he became fifteen. Her suspicion caused Karin a small flicker of guilt, but she had become very good at ignoring that emotion recently.

So, instead, Karin ignored her inner thoughts- she could talk to Toshiro about them later- and rolled her eyes at her father's antics, giving everyone the show they were looking for. They already knew her exasperation was an act, so none of them found her behavior at all strange.

Or she thought so… until she noticed the concerned looks Toshiro was giving her.

With a simple shake of her head, she wordlessly told her fiance that they could talk about it later, and he responded with a simple nod of his head. They turned back to Karin's family and joined the conversation.

"Still, I can't believe you two are finally engaged! Do you have any of the wedding plans started?"

Plans?

"You… do realize we only just finished the rebellion and _this_ genius thought it would be a great idea to propose in the middle of it… right? How exactly could we have any wedding plans?"

Orihime looked back and forth between the two, before smiling in a way that completely destroyed any illusions Karin and Toshiro had about her being just a delicate wallflower.

Then again… she had fought in a war… it really should not have surprised them as much as it did.

"Well then, I guess we have no choice but to go looking around! Karin will probably get released from the hospital soon, so I'll go talk to Kyoraku and ask him if he needs us for anything or if we can go around to check different areas out. I'll be right back, I promise!" Orihime smiled and left, reminding Toshiro slightly of Matsumoto. He supposed being friends with someone over decades had a tendency to cause similarities between people.

"Well, anyways," Ichigo started off, "I think it goes without saying that Orihime and I completely support your engagement. We'll help you plan the wedding too. Any honeymoon ideas yet?"

Karin raised an eyebrow glanced up at her brother, "Do you have even the _slightest_ idea how to go about planning a wedding or a honeymoon?... At all?"

"...Well, no, not really. But Orihime does and I can at least help by getting the information from the two of you."

" _Masakiiiiiiiii_!" A familiar yell came from the corner of the room. None of the other occupants had to look to know there was a giant Masaki poster hanging up, "Our son's grown up so much. Our daughter's grown up so much! They're going to plan her wedding together! Our daughter-in-law is so helpful! My second son is becoming my son-in-law! I couldn't be happier! You should be so proud of your children!"

Karin had mostly tuned him out, but his words still caused something to occur to her. She turned to and got the attention of her brother, "Ichi-nii? Do you think we'd be able to get Yuzu to come, even if we hold the wedding in Soul Society?"

Ichigo looked at her, his eyes softening as they always did when he dealt with his sisters. "Even if there isn't a way- which I'm sure there is- I know hat-and-clogs could make it happen. Don't worry, I'll make sure it's covered."

Karin smiled and nodded, flickers of excitement appearing at the idea of getting to see her twin again. It had been years since they last looked each other in the eyes. (Being dead made that surprisingly difficult).

Ichigo began mumbling about what Urahara had done to get his friends through their first time in Soul Society and then stepped out to call him and check, leaving Karin and Toshiro alone.

Toshiro looked at Karin and smiled, "I don't think you've met my grandmother yet, have you? She's really sick and might not be able to come, but I think it would be good for you to see her."

"Yeah, I've only ever met your sister. It'll be fun to meet all the rest of your family."

"All one person."

"Still," Karin told him with a glare that left no room for argument, "It'll be nice."

Toshiro was smart enough to just smile and nod to what Karin was saying, though Karin was pretty sure he did agree with her. She almost had trouble believing they were going to look for a place to get married, yet here they were. It would be perfect if Sensai could have come see too.

...No, she was fine with how everything turned out. She took a deep breath; it would be fine. She was happy.

* * *

"Ooooooh, what about this one?" Orihime asked as she pointed at the various cherry blossoms surround the lake. "It would be a nice place to get married!"

Karin and Toshiro made eye contact, instantly reading the other's emotions. Karin turned to Orihime, "I don't think so, it's just not really what we're looking for."

"We would be more inclined to something that speaks to us on a personal level. This place, while beautiful, doesn't have any symbolic or literal connection to us."

Orihime just smiled and nodded, as if expecting that response from them, and began directing them to the next place. After a handful of gardens were rejected the ground decided to take a break and have lunch together. It was here that Toshiro pulled Karin aside to a corner of the room.

"What?"

"Would now be a good time to talk about whatever was bothering you earlier?"

There was no impatience or accusation in his words, just concern and curiosity. That allowed Karin to think it over before giving him a genuine and honest answer.

"Sure, now would be a good time." She paused, trying to collect her thoughts, "I was thinking about my dad. He was your captain when you first started out, right?"

"He was."

"...Does it seem to you at all like… I don't know, it could just be genetics, but I almost feel like Ichigo and I are so naturally talented at shinigami stuff because he planned that."

"...Made you into weapons."

"Yeah, I mean… in a normal household what Isshin does to Ichigo every morning- running in and waking him up with a flying kick- would be considered abuse. They have an understanding about that, so it's fine, but… I don't know."

Expressing emotions had never been Karin's strong point, and she found herself getting frustrated by her struggle. Toshiro, however, understood what she meant immediately.

"...Probably not to the level you're thinking of, but somewhat, yes." Here, he also paused, trying to figure out what he was saying. "As you know, he used to do the same thing to me. With me, I understood he was training my reaction time so that it would be harder for hollows to catch me off guard. He just… did the same thing with your brother."

"Without telling Ichigo."

"Well… it would be kinda hard to explain…" Karin glared at him, "of course, that doesn't remove the guilt for his actions or change the fact that he should have told you from the beginning. When your Mom died, at the latest."

Karin relaxed and leaned back, the frustration having exhausted her even more. "Do you think he did the same thing to me? I mean, he obviously didn't go so far as to train my reactions in the way he did to you two, but it's also a fact that I'm really talented. Did all my natural talent come from the fact that he raised me?"

"Rather than your own work? Of course not. Ichigo, your sister and you happen to come from a one-of-a-kind family never seen before. Not only is it almost impossible for you to not have talent, but both you and your brother are known for never stopping or giving up- even when that's the most logical choice." Karin glared at him again, but he only raised an eyebrow as if to ask 'do you really disagree with me?' She stopped glaring after that.

"Anyways," he continued, "No. You wouldn't be able to get as far as you have-especially in this job- without genetic talent and an upbringing that- at the very least- didn't discourage this kind of work. That doesn't change the fact that you would never have gotten here without all the hard work you put in; another thing the two of you are known for."

"...Aren't you famous as being the hardest-working prodigy in the history of the Seireitei?"

Toshiro paused and seemed at a loss for a moment. Karin smirked; he was talented at praising someone else, but as soon as he received genuine recognition and praise he had no idea what to do. Then again, he was so irritable when they first met because he always had to earn recognition from everyone around him.

Karin was about to tease him over it, but heard a shout from behind her and turned to see Orihime waving them over.

"It's time to look at the next place!" She called out, "Are both of you finished with your lunch?!" Karin and Toshiro looked at each other, making sure the other was done with the conversation and the little food they had to snack on, before reappearing next to Orihime in a quick shunpo.

From there, they visited what seemed to be countless gardens scattered all throughout Soul Society, and subsequently rejected each one. It got to the point that eventually Ichigo muttered something about not even knowing there was one garden, much less a thousand and Orihime telling him they would come there more often for dates.

Some were too dry, some were too hot, some were almost all lake with no place to stand and some had such thick trees it would be too hard to have anything there. Isshin soon got bored and began suggesting seemingly random places.

"Why don't we try this place, I've been here before," he suggested, pointing at a garden on the map. Karin came over to take a look, but Toshiro only glanced at his former captain with suspicion.

"How… long ago, exactly?"

"A decade or two. It was a long time ago."  
"Did you like it there?"

"Oh, I absolutely hated it."

That response got him a kick from Ichigo, a punch from Karin and a frozen nose.

Eventually, however, their persistence paid off and they came across a small garden with cherry trees surrounding a small lake with a waterfall. It was nowhere near as filled or decorated as most of the other ones, but it was graceful in its own, natural way. The soft sound of the waterfall pouring into the lake along with the large birds standing in the water gave it an almost zen feeling. And, best of all, it meant something to Karin.

"Shiro… this area looks... a lot like my inner world."

Toshiro turned to her in surprise, then immediately looked back at the garden, remembering what she had told him about the collection of trees her inner world had to offer. Raising his right hand slightly and letting out a flicker of reiatsu, the largest tree across the lake was suddenly covered in a cold white frost and icicles.

Karin smiled as she saw that, feeling the resemblance had grown even stronger. She glanced over at Toshiro and tilted her head at him. "This the place we've been looking for?"

He nodded at her, "I think it is."

* * *

Having chosen the place they wanted to get married did not actually lighten their workload. At all. It turned out that just selecting the location was one of the easiest parts because Karin and Toshiro were decisive enough to know what they wanted. The rest, however, was made indefinitely harder by the fact that _everyone_ wanted to help them out.

The almost had to spend more time convincing Matsumoto and Rukia that they did not need every cook in the Seireitei to make them enough food to feed all of Rukongai than they had to spend picking what food they wanted. It thankfully took more time to decide on decorations than it took to convince Kyoraku they did not need to hold the wedding in a sacred shinigami monument, but it was not by much.

"You'd think," Toshiro told her at one point, "That they would trust the people they all agreed to have plan their every meeting to plan their own wedding."

"I think what you're asking for requires a little too much logic to be possible for shinigami," Karin told him.

"I'm almost tempted to just tell them we have it covered and shove them all out of the process. Ichigo and Orihime didn't get as much interference as we are."

"Well, of course not," Urahara casually fanned himself, obviously having overheard them, "You two are like the children or younger siblings of every high ranking soul reaper. Why wouldn't we want to help you plan?"

Both Toshiro and Karin threw nearby stones at him for that.

Luckily, and despite the 'help' given to them by the other shinigami, Karin and Toshiro's wedding had been planned without too many major problems so far. Unfortunately, it was Soul Society, so that could not last.

Karin blamed her father.

She opened the door to her (Toshiro's) room one morning, glaring and blinking away sleepy eyes. When she saw that the person who had been frantically knocking outside their door was her dad, her scowl deepened considerably. She straightened up and sent him her strongest glare.

"What. Did. You. Do."

It had not been spoken like a question, but Isshin knew he was expected to answer anyway. He briefly looked behind his daughter, hoping his soon-to-be-son-in-law was present so he could be spoken to instead. Karin had really mellowed him out, so there was only about a 40% chance he would get frozen as opposed to the 98.9% chance Karin would kick him.

Not seeing the white haired captain, he turned to Karin and cleared his throat.

"Well, see… I mean… have you ever heard that the road to hell is paved with good intentions?"

"...Yes, but I don't think it means whatever it is you think it means."

"Anyways, I wanted to prepare a surprise for you-"

"This isn't going to end well," Karin mumbled.

"-to celebrate my beloved daughter becoming an adult and getting married! I am so proud of you and so so so glad that everything I've done to keep my children safe has worked!"

Karin decided to be tactful and not mention the fact that (1) she was already dead, and (2) most of his efforts involved attempting to physically harm Ichigo to develop reflexes. It was honestly no wonder Yuzu was constantly worried about them…

The reminder that she would finally be able to see her twin soon lightened her mood enough for her to tune back into Isshin's rant.

"And you're a third seat and I'm so, so proud of you for that too and you've decided to marry my second son and I just couldn't be happier! I even brought a larger than usual poster of Masaki!"

"And when, exactly, did things start going wrong for you?" Karin interrupted, her brighter mood doing nothing to give her any more patience. Isshin, who seemed to have not realized he started ranting, froze up before straightening and returning to his explanation.

"Right, so I decided to make it personal and bake the wedding cake for you-"

"You do realize there's a reason Yuzu or Ichi-nii did all the cooking… right?"

"Well, I thought I could try it out! The only problem is that we don't cook much anymore so I didn't have the ingredients. Since it was a cake for you two anyways I thought no one would mind if I borrowed the ingredients for your 'official' wedding cake as long as it turned out really good…. And it turns out that didn't work out to my highest hopes."

Karin stared at him for a moment, "...What do you mean _borrow_? You can't re-use ingredients after using them once!" Karin sighed and rubbed her temples in a manner that shocked Isshin for a moment on how similar it was to something Toshiro would do. "So we just need to grab some more ingredients?"  
"Well, aaaaactuuuaaaally,"

"-oh no-"

"I may have used one of your kitchens and blown up the tenth division's formerly white kitchen."

The temperature dropped considerably, and Isshin cursed the Soul King that _that_ had to be the first part Toshiro heard. Said boy came out behind Karin, looking as professional as always, with a glare that froze Isshin in his tracks. Even hollows were never as scary as the boy in front of him!

"Hey, Shiro. It's apparently tenth division stuff between a captain and former captain, so I'm gonna leave this to you. Best of luck dealing with it, goodbye man-I-have-never-met-before-and-is-therefore-not-my-responsibility."

"Karin?!"

Despite Isshin calling after her, Karin just rubbed her tired eyes and continued back inside to change out of her pajamas. He gathered up the courage to look at Toshiro, only to immediately regret it when he saw the boy's murderous expression. Isshin knew he would need to clear up this misunderstanding as fast as possible.

"Hey Toshiro! See, I was just trying to-"

"I. Don't. Care."

The next words he was going to say died in Isshin's mouth and he took several cautious steps back.

Toshiro sighed, "How much destruction did you cause?"

"Well, it's a bit hard to tell without actually going there so-"

"Then we'll go there."

Toshiro stomped forward and began dragging Isshin by the collar to the tenth division kitchens near his office. Luckily, it was early enough in the morning that there was no one else around to stop them on their way in.

When Toshiro arrived he stared at the destruction before him in something akin to awe. He had not realized it was possible to cause so much destruction accidently while trying to bake a cake. He made a mental note to never allow a drunk Matsumoto into the kitchens.

"Oh, that fire wasn't there when I left," Isshin said, looking at the small fire burning and spreading near the sink. Toshiro extinguished it with a thought.

After a quick text to Karin telling her to buy more cake ingredients, Toshiro began cleaning the mess in the kitchen and putting everything away where it should be.

"Um… do you want any help?"

" _No_." Toshiro glared at him and Isshin sunk down into a seat. "You are going to stay there and not make this mess any worse than you already have. If you want to get up and move, tell me first and I'll decide if you can be trusted to do so."

"Then… what should I do?"

"Think about what you've done and reflect on your actions. This shouldn't have happened, can you tell me why it did?"

"...Okay…"

Toshiro sighed, but returned to cleaning up a large pile of flour in the middle of the floor. As he worked, he listened to Isshin ramble on and on about how he (somehow) had no idea that there was a big difference between the ovan and the microwave and how he tried following the video, but may have cut some corners when something seemed a bit too complicated. Toshiro continued to listen without comment and Isshin began to tense up, expecting a sudden frost. He also took the liberty of wrapping some nearby tablecloths around himself, hoping to avoid the freezing to death.

"...What are you going to do now?" Isshin finally asked, as that was why he came to Toshiro and Karin in the first place. Despite what his children thought, he _was_ an adult capable of solving some problems on his own (and that included cleaning up a mess in the kitchen), but he did not actually have a solution to the lack of cake for the wedding.

Yes, it was true that Soul Society had technology to make cake seem freshly baked days after it was made (that was why they were making it a day in advance), but that still was not very much time. Toshiro paused in his cleaning and looked like he was considering the question, only continuing to clean once he started to speak again.

"I am by no means professional, but I think I am at least competent enough to follow a cookbook. Karin is bringing the ingredients over, and we thought we would try to make one together to start with. Ichigo told us he was in the world of the living, so anything we can't find last minute in Soul Society can be brought from there. We don't need a hugely extravagant cake to begin with, despite how you all seem to be trying to make our wedding into the even to the century."

"It _is_ the event of the century!"

"We've had a total of two wars and countless rebellions in the past _decade_ , it is not the event of the century."

"Well… it's all about perspective!"

Toshiro flicked a speculative, unimpressed glance back at Isshin, forcing his former captain to shut up. There were some stains of food coloring he would need to leave to professionals, but all in all he was fairly satisfied with his progress. Isshin looked around at the former mess, a shocked expression on his face.

"See Toshiro, this is why you're the perfect captain to be in charge of meetings!"

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho."

"You let Karin call you 'Shiro'! And it's been a long time since you corrected me, I thought we were past all this. I'm going to go from your adoptive father to your father-in-law!"

"Karin is an exception. And what do you mean 'my adoptive father'?"

His question was ignored however, as Isshin was looking at the floor and grumbling in defeat about how his son loved his daughter more than him. Toshiro sighed and washed his hands.

* * *

"Shiro! I'm back!" Karin's call was shortly followed by the door to the kitchen swinging open, allowing Karin to walk in with her arms full of grocery bags. She set her supplies down and looked around the kitchen in appreciation; Toshiro really would make the perfect secretary if he was not a captain.

Toshiro pulled out the cookbook and walked over to her, flipping open to the page with cakes on it. He set it down on the table and Karin stood next to him to see it.

"Do you think we can do this?"

"How many of the ingredients could you find?" Toshiro and Karin both glanced over at the bags next to them, which, while full, were probably not as full as they should have been.

"The market was almost over- we really do need to make a supermarket here, what is with this backwards place?!- so I couldn't get as much as I wanted, we still need eggs, frosting and more milk… and that's assuming the two of us can actually make a cake at all. We aren't exactly known for being great bakers."

"It can't be too different from chemistry, right?"

"Yuzu says it's completely different. According to her, chemistry is a science, cooking is an art. Whatever that means…"

"That's right."

Karin jumped slightly at the voice and Toshiro, who had felt the reiatsu coming, but not recognized it until he heard the voice, was equally surprised. When Karin laid eyes on the person who had spoken all the air left her lungs and Toshiro heard a soft gasp from her, not that that was surprising.

"Yuzu."

* * *

1) Ichigo's canon kid, for those who don't know. He's adorable!

2) Thank you so much for your reviews, I really love seeing them! They make me really happy!


	43. Chapter 43

"Yuzu?" Karin, suddenly overwhelmed by uncertainty, reached out as if to touch her sister and make sure she was real. Karin was almost positive that she was not hallucinating, but given the general lack of sleep and stress she had recently it was entirely possible she was.

Yuzu- who was always better at dealing with things like this- had no such hesitation and immediately broke into a run, throwing herself into her sister's arms with a smile. From behind Yuzu, Toshiro noticed Ichigo enter the room, his arms full of grocery bags with the other cake ingredients.

Continuing to hug her sister, Yuzu remained perfectly composed and, eventually, Karin was able to calm down enough to hug her back. It was the first time they had touched or really seen each other in years. Toshiro and Ichigo looked to the ground, feeling slightly awkward and intrusive on the twins.

"I missed you," Yuzu whispered to Karin, blinking back tears.

"I missed you too."

They remained in the positions they were in for almost a minute, before, finally, Yuzu relaxed and Karin let go. The two sisters stared at each other, before Karin was finally able to wake up from the stunned shock she had fallen into.

"Urahara's thing worked then?"

Yuzu nodded, "Yeah, though, unfortunately, my husband didn't have enough spiritual pressure to come too. Oh well, at least I was able to tell him where I was going without lying."

Before she died, Karin had met and tentatively approved of Yuzu's husband, so she knew they had told him about their 'family secret'. He was also very loyal and mellow, so she doubted this would cause any problems between them.

Not that Karin would have let that stop her from seeing Yuzu again, but it was a nice plus.

Yuzu finally looked away from Karin to her soon-to-be-brother-in-law, her usual charisma and exuberance practically shining off her soul. With a handful of bouncy steps, Yuzu skipped up to him and pulled him into a hug as well.

"Toshiro! It's been so long! I'm so happy for you two! I always said the two of you would be perfect together from the first time I saw you two together, glad to know I was right!"

For all that Karin had made him more social, when Yuzu suddenly hugged him he could not do anything but stare at Karin in confusion. His loyal, helpful, _supportive_ fiance just smirked at his panic, trying to stop herself from laughing.

Luckily, Yuzu's hug was much shorter for him than it was for Karin, and he was soon released as she bounced over to the stack of ingredients with a gleeful expression. Ichigo hesitantly placed the new ingredients on the table for her to see and Yuzu admired the tools she had to work with, a smile on her face.

"Alright let's bake," Yuzu declared before immediately assigning roles to each member of her family present. As Karin and Orihime (who Ichigo had asked to decorate rather than bake) began to choose which color of frosting they wanted for the first layer, Karin realized she had no idea how to choose colors for a cake.

"You two, make sure that you're both happy with how it looks, I don't want to get the cake color to clash with the frosting one," she instructed Karin and Toshiro, who had been picking food coloring for the cake. The pair of lovers quickly decided on a dark blue cake with white frosting and light, icy blue decorations.

Yuzu was thrilled.

For the next hour or so, the group found themselves lost in baking the most extravagant cake any of them (except Yuzu) had seen. To Yuzu, the highlight of the experience was finding out Soul Society had a way to preserve cakes that did not cause them to lose any of their warm fluff. She gleefully re-adjusted her plan to an even bigger cake when she had found out.

Fortunately, with the Shiba account loaded from thank you's for Ichigo and Karin's salary (food and shelter were provided, so she usually had no use for any of the money), it was no trouble for them to get all the ingredients Yuzu could dream of. Ichigo actually ended up opening a garganta back to the world of the living half-way through to get more for them to use.

Even after working the present military officers- some of the strongest people in existence- to the point of collapse Yuzu still looked as cheerful as ever. Toshiro stared after her in a state of wonder and fear.

"How was she able to _do_ all this?"

"I'm almost positive not inheriting as much spiritual pressure as the rest of us has made her the most powerful Kurosaki of all. Quite a few people agree with me," Karin told him from her collapsed position on the ground, Ichigo nodding without hesitation. Yuzu ignored them and happily stuffed the various layers into the 'fridge'.

"By the way Yuzu," Karin asked, still not moving from the ground. "Where will you be sleeping tonight?"

Yuzu thought it over for a moment, then turned to Toshiro and Karin with a teasing grin. "Well, I wouldn't want to get in the way of you two tonight, I'll just stay with Ichigo and Orihime."

Karin blushed slightly and glared, sitting up a bit only to lean against the counter and slide until her head was on Toshiro's shoulder. Toshiro glared at Yuzu as well.

Yuzu happily ignored the glares from two people who could easily destroy a country if given a reason to. The clean up had already been finished, so Yuzu decided to give the couple (and her brother) a break, promising herself to continue teasing them at their wedding.

"I think I'm going to go find Rukia! Do you two have anything else you need to do before the wedding begins? If not, you might be able to do a bit more baking even without me."

Toshiro and Karin froze slightly, neither missing the way Ichigo slowly inched out of the room until he was far enough away to shunpo out without obstruction.

"Ah, no," Toshiro shook his head, "We should really go. I want Karin to meet my grandmother, who unfortunately can't make it to the wedding tomorrow."

Yuzu nodded along as if something like this was not _exactly_ her plan and then smiled again and waved them off.

"I don't think I'll look at a pleasant smile the same way ever again," Toshiro whispered to Karin as he helped her up. Karin nodded back, brushing flour off her forehead.

"Yeah, she has a way of doing that to people."

* * *

Having already flash stepped a majority of the way, Toshiro and Karin spent the rest of the trip to his grandmother's house walking at a leisurely pace. This was dually useful, as it gave them a chance to both enjoy the scenery and talk to each other.

"I told you about my grandmother a long time ago, right?" Toshiro asked, his genius brain sorting through the events in his life and placing them on a timeline. "I think I've told her about you several times; at least in passing."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you actually first told me about her when I was still alive, so I was really, really young then. Though we looked about the same age, and I'm pretty sure I was taller."

Toshiro rolled his eyes, but did not deny what she said or mention how unnecessary her comment was. He remembered one of his earlier trips to the human world (it wasn't to see her, regardless of what Matsumoto said) where he took Karin to the house of a woman who could see spirits. After Karin was finished mocking him for his choice of candied beans, they had an _actual_ conversation where Toshiro told her a bit about his childhood.

"That makes this much easier then, I'm pretty sure I remember personally telling her about you. Though, recently, her health has started to deteriorate, so I'm not sure if she'll remember."

"She'll be reincarnated soon then?"

"She should be, though I'll admit I'm hoping she'll be able to continue existing fully until then, rather than a slow transition of wasting away overtime."

Karin hummed in understanding, remembering the times some families had asked her dad to give the elders in their family a peaceful, painless death after developing an incurable disease. At the time, she had been too young to be able to understand why anyone would assume death was better than life.

Karin also knew these things should be treated delicately, and that asking more on the subject was a level of rude even she knew was off limits.

So, instead, she reached over to grab his hand, giving him a reassuring squeeze, but said nothing. They walked in silence for a while, until Karin felt Toshiro relax and thought it was an acceptable time to restart their conversation.

"So, will Momo be coming? Might be nice to see your family all at once, but it'd be hard to arrange your schedule with the fifth divisions like that."

"Yes, well, unfortunately she's too busy to come right now, but she'll be able to make it to the wedding. " Toshiro told her, ignoring the emotions inside him with a practiced mask. He still loved Momo, and felt comfortable around her in more casual conversation or teasing, but whenever it became too serious his mind always brought him back to the moment Aizen caused him to nearly kill her.

That tends to create a bit of a wall between people.

He shook his head, clearing himself of those thoughts. They were still close, so it was fine. He would rather not bring it up to Karin and lower their current positive mood in preparation for the wedding.

Regardless, Karin seemed to understand what he was feeling and squeezed his hand again, offering a small amount of comfort. They looked to each other and smiled, then stopped, having reached the house.

Karin apparently decided Toshiro had calmed down enough and let go of his hand, motioning for him to take the lead with a smirk. Toshiro's smile remained, even as he rolled his eyes and opened the door for them.

"I'm home," he said, not quiteyelling, but still louder than normal.

His words attracted the attention of an old woman, who turned toward the noise from her spot on the bed and set her book down, smiling at him.

"Toshiro. Welcome back," she glanced over at the girl behind her surrogate grandson. "Who is this young lady?"

Karin stepped in, nodding once at the grandmother as if giving a bow. "Hi. It's nice to meet you, my name's Karin."

The woman smiled even at the short introduction, motioning for them to come inside. "It's been far too long since you last visited Toshiro, thank you for coming back. Have you come to introduce this woman to me?"

Toshiro sank down next to his grandmother and spoke in a soft voice. "Yes, I wanted you to meet her. Grandmother, please meet Karin Kurosaki or Shiba, my fiance."

The woman's eyes widened, before her expression shifted to an unparalleled smile, looking between the two of them. Karin relaxed and allowed herself to smile back at the woman as she sank to the ground next to her bed. The grandmother reached out towards Karin, touching her cheek as if to make sure she was not hallucinating.

"That is wonderful Toshiro, this is amazing," she turned to the silver haired boy on the other side of her bed, "You're all grown up now, aren't you?"

Seeing how happy the woman was gave Karin the strength she needed to bite down her comment about his apparent height and age, a fact she was extremely grateful for. The woman pulled them both into a hug, then moved her book off of her bed completely, wiping away tears in her eyes.

She turned to Karin, "Are you a shinigami too? Is that how you met each other?"

Karin tilted her head to the side in a 'so-so' manner, then answered, "I am also a shinigami- I even work in Toshiro's division- but we met each other originally because my brother is a shinigami and Toshiro got to know him during the wars. We met before I became a shinigami or even entered the academy."

She tactfully talked around the fact that the first time they met she was still alive; she would rather avoid the headache-inducing number of questions that would inevitably spawn from that statement.

The woman nodded and started asking Karin and Toshiro how their job had been recently. She obviously had not heard about the rebellion, and Karin got a distinct impression that Toshiro did not want to bring it up, so she did the same. After Matsumoto stories and tales of how Karin's father was absolutely insane and how useless their fellow officers could be when they did not want to do something (meetings) Toshiro finally brought up what they came here for.

"So, grandmother. I told you at the beginning that Karin is my fiance, and I wanted to know if you think you would be physically able to come to our wedding. How have you been feeling?"

Just like that, the joyful, optimistic happiness which had been in her vanished and was replaced by a deep, crushing guilt. Toshiro knew the answer to his question. Karin tried for a bit of a lopsided smile as she placed her hand on Toshiro's, but it would be very hard to subdue this much disappointment.

"I… this is such an amazing thing…" Toshiro's grandmother began, blinking away tears, "I always hoped I would stay long enough to see this happen, and I'm still here… but I can't risk going outside anymore. The healer you sent to see me told me I would greatly speed up my reincarnation if I did that."

Toshiro nodded in understanding, but could not find a way to say anything. Hoping she was not overstepping something, Karin tried to reply for both of them.

"No, it's fine. Neither I nor Toshiro would be happy knowing that your reincarnation was sped up because of us; having you know what is happening is more than enough. So, instead, can I ask if we have your support in this?"

Both Toshiro and his grandmother turned towards her and gave grateful smiles. Karin relaxed slightly.

She could help Toshiro with some things, but this was not an area she was an expert in. At all. For a moment there, she had been worried she had said something she was not supposed to.

Karin leaned back and let Toshiro continue where she left off.

"Right," Toshiro looked back at his grandmother, "I just want to be sure you support us, it is more than enough to know that you care and trust us together. I mainly came here today because I wanted Karin to have an opportunity to meet you; this is all I can really ask for. So, please, do you support us?"

Karin could tell Toshiro was struggling as well; neither of them had any real skill in personal, private, emotional conversations. But, with that in mind, she thought they were doing pretty well.  
"I… Of course. You two seem perfect together and Karin seems like a wonderful person. I would be more than happy to support you two staying together for the rest of your afterlifes. Please, treat each other well."

Karin and Toshiro nodded, blushing slightly, and continued in more casual conversation until it was time for them to prepare lunch. The two of them moved to the kitchen and pulled out some ingredients they had brought along, while Toshiro's grandmother read from her book again.

"How are you feeling?" Karin asked once they were out of hearing distance. Toshiro tensed up, but did not stop in his cutting, thinking over his answer.

"I'm good. Ever since Matsumoto told me I was killing my grandmother unknowingly, I've tried to stay far away from her. I spent a year or so in and after the academy trying to avoid her at all costs, and even after that our meetings were scarce. This is just… the completion to that. I would rather she cut her contact with me and was able to spent the rest of her afterlife in peace than the alternative."

Karin nodded once and looked him in the eye, hesitantly smiling, before straightening up and glaring slightly. "Don't you dare even _think_ about pulling the whole 'I'm-responsible-and-I-can-take-care-of-myself-easily-so-I'll-just-avoid-telling-everyone -I'm -breaking -inside' thing I know you and Ichi-nii do. If you think there's anything I can do to help you with this, I expect you to tell me about it immediately."

"I already do that," Toshiro (stupidly) protested.  
"No, you really don't. And Orihime agrees with me. And Rukia agrees with me. And Momo agrees with me. I'm almost certain the two of you have developed some sort of complex."

"What, like a 'I-have-been-raised-by-Isshin' complex? He isn't anywhere near that bad."

"No, he just forces you to grow up faster than you're ready for," Karin cut in, her bitterness at how he raised Ichigo still somewhat present. Toshiro stopped his cutting and rested his hand on top of hers.

"Raising kids with the _intention_ of making them military weapons doesn't leave much room for nurturing. That's what he was trying to do to both of us- though me to a lesser extent. He didn't do that to you nor Yuzu, and I'd say his parenting of you two was pretty good, if eccentric."

"That almost makes it worse because he _can_ parent well."

"Maybe, but really, I'm fine."

"You'll tell me if there's anything I can do to help you?"

"I will."  
"Mmhm. Well, I'll believe it when I see it," Karin concluded and put the tempura she had been making for her lunches on a small plate between them. Toshiro smiled and placed the noodles and potstickers he had just finished on similar decorated plates before they brought the food over to where his grandmother was resting.

"What, no ancient people food?" Karin teased as they walked over.

Toshiro glared back, "You thought the candied beans were okay, too. Besides, that was _one_ _time_ Karin. You can't base everything off one of the first times we met each other."

Karin simply hummed in reply as they set the plates down on his grandmother's bed. She looked overjoyed at the idea of a "bed-and -breakfast" arrangement, even if the time was closer to lunch.

Soon, Toshiro began talking with his grandmother while Karin made an effort to stay out of it. She thought Toshiro deserved some actual time with her, and would rather not get in the way of it. Instead, she began looking around the room her fiance grew up in, seeing little hints of his past.

(1) She could see through an open door into the next room, which housed two identical beds sitting next to each other. She had always known they were close, but most of the time Toshiro told her about his childhood was _after_ Momo had already joined or graduated from the academy. It was interesting to see how close they had probably been growing up together and sharing absolutely everything; it reminded her of her and Yuzu.

She tried to not imagine the lengths Aizen chose to go through to manipulate the two of them and nearly shatter that once - inseparable bond. She had never met the guy, but from what she heard of his creepy obsession with her brother and his ability to control people she was not in any rush to.

Shaking those thoughts away, Karin continued to look around. The hallway connecting the two rooms was very short, so she could easily imagine how Toshiro's untrained reiatsu leaked out, endangering an ordinary soul. It might be more lonely for her, but Karin thought it was probably good Toshiro had left when he did.

Turning to another wall, Karin saw large, word-down windows, and could imagine an overheated child-Toshiro opening them, hoping for a cool breeze. They were all, however, sealed shut now, as his grandmother did not have the same problem with heat. Karin glanced over to Toshiro and wondered if he was starting to get hot, especially considering all the hot food they had made together.

She mentally cursed at only having thought of that now.

Trying to attract as little attention as possible, Karin walked back to the kitchens to get him some ice and let him keep talking. On the way, she looked through a window and saw a small garden growing food. Or, it _had_ been growing food, as it had obviously not been tended in a long time. Casually looking through the glass, Karin recognized some of the food she had mocked Toshiro for, and wondered if it reminded him of his childhood.

It was still weird for anyone who looked like a middle to high schooler to eat candied beans. (And no, she would never get over that.)

Though she had to admit they were not terrible when Toshiro made her try some.

The kitchen was small, but mostly organized and friendly. It actually reminded Karin a bit of her family's (Yuzu's) kitchen back in the world of the living, causing the place to inspire a feeling of calm in her.

Karin soon found where the ice was kept and took some out, crushing it and putting it into a glass that would soon melt into chilling water for her fiance.

She went back to where the house's other two souls were and handed Toshiro the glass, to which he mouthed her a quick 'thank you'. Karin smiled, knowing Toshiro had realized why she had done that without attracting too much attention. Soon, Karin found herself listening to various stories about Toshiro's upbringing, which, coupled with the knowledge she had gleaned from her walk around the house, gave her a pretty good idea of Toshiro's childhood.

Which, honestly, was only fair. Toshiro still knew so much more about the way she had been brought up because Isshin could _not_ stop telling stories about his kids.

* * *

In between the craze of having dresses tried on her, getting her hair done in hundreds of different ways, and learning there were more types of the same shoe than she could name, Karin found she was spending surprisingly little time with Toshiro in preparations for the day they would get married.

Luckily, Karin was decisive enough that most of her decisions did not take long. A kimono instead of a western wedding dress was simple enough to choose, and she would only accept a ponytail or bun in her hair in case she had to fight suddenly.

Matsumoto protested that there was no way that would happen, but all Karin had to do was remind her of what happened at her brother's wedding to stop the protests.

There really was an odd number of people with a grudge against soul society who happened to have the tools and power to start a rebellion against them. Or maybe there were just that many people who hated them.

Karin ended up being lenient and tolerating a mix between a french braid and a bun that she had no idea Matsumoto knew how to do. At the very least it probably would not get in her way, so she thought she could have been forced to wear worse. The jeweled clip she was forced to wear, however, almost caused her to commit manslaughter until Matsumoto explained that it would keep her hair up and out of her eyes.

Honestly, Karin had no idea why they could not just figure this all out right before the wedding. Was there any real need to have her do her hair twice? There was still so much time before the wedding that it just seemed ridiculous.

 _"Please, Karin, the week will go by in the blink of an eye. You're going to be staring at the dust it leaves behind and wondering where it went unless we get this all done now."_

Matsumoto's voice echoed in her mind as it did every time Karin's thoughts began going down this path. She barely bit back her sigh of annoyance. It was mostly tolerable- Yuzu doing so much of the work made it more so- but being stuck in the same room doing _nothing_ was starting to grate on her nerves.

When they started asking her to choose between two snow-white nail polishes which looked exactly the same to her Karin decided she had sat through more than enough.

"Eh, where are you going?" Matsumoto asked, half-way through her rant on why 'sea of ice' complemented Toshiro so much better than 'iceberg lake'. Karin ignored her lieutenant and continued walking out the room a glare covering her features.

"Does that mean you're okay with 'sea of ice' and are going to take a break?"

"Fine," Karin growled out, ignoring the way Yuzu was holding back giggles at her twin's childishness. Karin rolled her eyes and left the room, taking in a big breath of fresh air from outside the building.

All this work was stifling, but it also had to be done. Karin was wondering what she could do about it when Yuzu walked out of the room and stood next to her, also taking in a nice breath of air.

"Are you nervous?"

The question was so sudden, so personal, that for a moment Karin was thrown off and had to turn to stare at her twin sister in confusion. Said sister just continued staring out to the area around them with a calm smile on her face.

"What?" Karin prompted.

Yuzu glanced back at her, her smile turning slightly amused. "You always act a bit more sudden and abrasive when you start to get nervous. Well, it makes sense, this is a big thing for you. I just thought it might help you to step outside and calm down a bit; tomorrow is supposed to be one of the best days of your life."

Karin scowled to the ground, trying to ignore the fact that she _had_ noticed she was a bit more stressed lately and that- despite their opposite personalities- Yuzu still knew her best. It seemed weird that she was still so transparent to Yuzu even though they had not seen each other in years.

Her Mom had felt the same, though, so maybe it was just genetic.

"I think Matsumoto might be getting a little stressed too," Yuzu continued, causing Karin to glance over in genuine confusion. "She's micromanaging everything because she wants this to be perfect. Both you and Toshiro are like her little siblings, so maybe she feels like she's getting married through you two."

Karin bit down the snappy retort she was going to make to that when she remembered what her brother had told her about Matsumoto and Gin. Despite not having that information, Yuzu's theory about Rangiku getting married through them seemed entirely possible. She had no idea Yuzu could read _everyone_ that easily.

"While I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, I had no idea you were a part-time therapist, even to people older than you." Her words caused Yuzu to laugh again, before her twin looked at her with shockingly sad eyes. Karin immediately straightened up, wondering what she had done wrong.

"Matsumoto is _technically_ older than I am, yes, but you're both souls. I can read you partly because I know you so well, and partly because I've been able to grow up more while you haven't. Matsumoto and I are actually about the same age maturity-level wise, and while her extra years do give her a bit of an advantage, you can't really say she's older than I am. You died, I've had to live longer than you did."

Any response Karin could have made died as Yuzu continued to speak. In her mind, Karin knew that Yuzu had seen her Mom die, sister die, and practically already lost her brother to the world of the dead, with her father having never really left. She knew that, but it had never really occurred to her that Yuzu might consider herself the last living member of the Kurosaki family; the only one who was still completely alive.

Immediately, Karin felt guilty. This time she knew it was irrational- she did not exactly have a choice whether she died or not- but the gravity of what had happened was suddenly thrust in her face.

"Yuzu…I-"

"Don't be like that."

"...Sorry?"

"It's been years, and I'm a big girl, I'm fine. I just want you to understand; you've left the world of the living, go have a family in this world. You still have your right to happiness. Matsumoto and I were micromanaging, you're pretty much done with everything you need to do before tomorrow. I'll bet Toshiro is done too, you should go find your knight in shining armor and have at least one last conversation alone without actually being married."

"But-"

"No, buts," Yuzu declared, giving her sister the glare which every Kurosaki knew was not to be opposed. "Go have fun, we're done here, I promise. You need to focus on your new family now."

"I… okay, right. Thank you."

Yuzu smiled again and pulled her sister into a hug. Karin tried to ignore that, eventually, Yuzu might be too old to come to Soul Society and hug her. That Yuzu was probably going to be much, much older when she finally did die. That she, physically, was not really able to be considered the twin of her twin.

"Common, like I said, you're making a family here now," Yuzu told her, pulling away from the hug, "Go find your prince charming."

"He would only make a good prince charming if he was even remotely romantic."

"He's your perfect prince charming then."

Karin smiled, letting Yuzu pull her into one last hug, then watched as her sister walked back inside.

She needed to find Toshiro.

* * *

"They're wearing you out too?"

Toshiro, who had felt Karin's reiatsu approaching long before she spoke, simply smiled at her comment and turned toward her. He had been sitting on a bench in front of the building, trying to get some air after hours of Orihime making frantic calls to Matsumoto so that they could arrange Karin and Toshiro's outfits.

"I suppose so. You look exhausted."

Karin rolled her eyes and hit his arm for that comment, but could not stop a playful smile from crossing her lips as she sat down next to him. Toshiro looked up at her in slight confusion, before realization crossed his expression.

"How much time have they given you to be here with me?"

Karin smiled, "Plenty. Yuzu seemed to realize I needed a break and told me I could go. This is our last night as a couple of unmarried lovers, so she said we should talk."

Toshiro blinked in surprise and turned to stare out at a small village Karin was looking at in the distance. An overwhelming feeling on nostalgia occurred as he remembered the trip to the fair they had almost two years ago. He looked back at Karin. It seemed she really was always trying to help him relax, regardless of the situation.

"I suppose she probably knows what's best. Maybe we should head to town."

"Sure, we'd never get any privacy otherwise."

So as not to alert any of their overly-worried mothering friends, the two moved in a silent sunpo towards the village they could see. There was not a fair for the time being, but some similar shops and stalls were still open, despite the late hour. This was one of the nicer ones, being much closer to the Seireitei, so there was not a lot of construction to worry about.

There was a chance Karin or Toshiro would be recognized. High ranking shinigami- especially ones as notable as Toshiro- could be recognized by the distinctive appearance they had and the aura they gave off. Luckily, this was not a town where they would receive a negative reaction from anyone who found out.

Karin could still remember the first time a young child had looked at her in fear because of the zanpakuto she was meant to use to protect him.

"Look, they're selling charms with the division logos," Toshiro told her, pulling her out from her sea of thoughts. She glanced over and saw the large assortment of necklaces which held various division symbols on them.

"Do you think the colors are chosen based on the captains?" Karin asked, finding their design highly amusing. The first division was mostly white and tan, but had specs of pink as well. The second division was black and white, but also included a gold band. The sixth division had black and pink reminiscent of Byakuya's shikai, while the twelfth had an assortment of strange, clashing colors that suited Kurotsuchi perfectly. The tenth had a light, icy turquoise that faded to white at the bottom.

Karin might be bias and have- according to Matsumoto- absolutely no fashion sense, but she thought the Tenth's was by far the most beautiful.

"Maybe, it seems a little too perfect to be a coincidence."

The two smiled at each other and continued on their walk, enjoying viewing the town as if it were a museum of the strange, strange lives of normal non-shinigami. With everything that had happened recently, it felt like it had been far too long since they had last come to a normal village with normal souls.

One area of the town had the most interesting things to look at, but also had a giant, roaring campfire in the middle. Karin was about to walk away, but Toshiro stopped her.

"I'll be fine, let's go see what they have around here."

Karin just raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him.

"Will you?"

"I will, I promise."

A miniature staring contest ensued, but Toshiro held her gaze with an unstoppable, icy determination until, finally, Karin relented with an almost put-upon sigh.

"You better not regret this."

"Of course I won't. Just relax," he gave her a slight push towards the area, and Karin noticed the icy chill on his hand where his skin touched her back. She turned to Toshiro in surprise, and noticed he had surrounded himself with a small portion of his reiatsu. The fire would not be able to do anything against him.

A smirk appeared on her face.

"I thought you were determined to convince me that you're not an air conditioner. Did my seduction of you break through your defenses and allow me to have what I've been waiting for?"

"You were willing to marry me to get free air conditioner privileges?"

"Maybe, but I can't admit that until we're actually married. Try asking me again a few days from now."

If Karin was told her greatest accomplishment of the day was getting Toshiro to laugh in that moment, she would have thought it was a day well spent.

The couple walked around the area, finding various stores selling - seemingly - everything under the sun. There were places that had food, desserts and drinks, there were places that had clothes and accessories, there were places that had construction equipment and places that had souvenirs regarding the Court Guard Squads.

Toshiro and Karin had paused when they reached the equipment store and looked around, immediately being reminded of Sensai and their volunteer work. The large amount of houses that had been remodeled seemed to have put various companies back in business, so people were getting more and more equipment to set up shop or furnish their houses. Karin wondered how using the prisoners for that was going.

"Did you hear anything about the recent construction efforts?" Karin asked Toshiro, who thought about it for a moment and then nodded back.

"Yes, they're going more slowly per person, but there are so many people that overall progress is a bit faster. We'll be in charge of a majority of the supervision when we get back from our honeymoon, so, if you want me to, I could ask them to send you all the reports on the progress."

"That'd be great actually…" Karin muttered, her mind lost in memories of Sensai.

For a moment, Toshiro looked like he wanted to ask, but backed away with a shake of his head. Instead, he simply walked closer and gently grabbed her hand, offering comfort from his presence, if nothing else. Both of them had the same habit of grabbing each other's hands when they wanted to support the other.

Karin calmed down, glad he had realized she did not feel comfortable talking about it in full. It was nice to have someone who understood you to a point where they always knew what was best.

They stayed standing before the shop for several long minutes, until eventually Karin felt she had completely calmed down and pulled Toshiro along to their next stop.

As they began walking, Karin pulled Toshiro closer for a moment and whispered into his ear, "I think I'm good now. How are you taking everything?"

For all that her fiance had perfected an icy mask, Karin knew there was more emotion than even he liked to acknowledge. It may not seem like something was wrong with him, but it would not hurt to check.

"...I think… I think I'm okay… it _is_ hard to be married so soon after, but I think it will help everyone if something happy like this is held now. We can go back to being serious and depressed after our honeymoon. Besides, these happen so often now that it's just another week."

"And if another emergency happens while we're away?"

"Honestly, I'm half-convinced these things are periodic. We so rarely have two at once, and there's almost always a little break between them. If we keep that in mind this may actually be the perfect time to get married."

"No, the perfect time would have been right after the last one; the second division was pretty much the only group involved that time… though I guess if I wanted that I should have tried going out with you sooner."

"I suppose so."

Karin smirked and suddenly kissed his cheek, startling him. When he turned to look at her and saw her smirk at his reaction he turned away and rolled his eyes.

Karin's smirk became a smile which stayed through the rest of their trip.

* * *

Karin gasped. Her chest continued moving up and down, desperately searching for more air. Her subconscious knew she was at the tenth division trying to sleep, her mind told her she was at the rebel base. Every time she started to relax she could only see the haze of the base through blurry eyes, feel an uncountable number of cuts littering her body, smell the salt of dried blood and taste the fear and desperation in the air.

Could only see the bodies of her two best friends.

Sensai was still; calm. She was resting- seemingly asleep- except for the red at her chest and the shocked blame in her empty eyes. Kanna was exactly what you would expect from a victim of murder. Body parts twisted out of shape, clothes drenched in red, and traces of long-dried tear marks running down her cheeks.

One, she knew, was murdered by her.

The other was killed by her neglectance.

Both were killed because they knew her. Both died from being her friend.

She turned, trying to look away from them. Trying to look _anywhere_ but at them. Her cowardessness was repaid in full by the world existing around her. Orihime, dead. Isshin, missing an arm. Matsumoto, Ichigo, Yuzu. She kept turning, trying to look away.

Toshiro.

The red stood out against his white hair beautifully. The shade of his skin made it hard for her to tell if he was now any paler than he had been before. The blame in his eyes, however, was not so easily disguised.

Her breathing sped up again, and she was vaguely aware she was starting to panic. Small tremors raked her body as she hugged her body and fell to her knees, bending down and hoping to clear her mind.

Instead, it got worse.

Karin suddenly could not breathe. She tried gasping for air, but her lungs would not fill up. She knew why; she was poison, her presence killing everyone she cared about. Her friends, her family, her twin, her husband. She needed air, but it was like she was drowning in quicksand. Her lungs screamed for relief she could not give.

A hand grabbed her own and she woke up. Heavy breathing labored her body, but it was air. She could breathe.

Gradually, the pain in her chest disappeared and she noticed the sweat covering her body which had nothing to do with the heat (or lack thereof) in the room. And that made sense, she was, after all, sleeping next to Toshiro.

She blinked open her eyes again to find concerned turquoise ones staring back at her from above. His face was as calm as usual, but there was an unmistakable panic dancing across his eyes.

"...Hey," she whispered, still panting, "Sorry for waking you up."

Toshiro frowned and she could tell that had not been what he wanted her to say, but he did not argue against it. Instead, he decided to lie down next to her, allowing their shoulders to touch.

"Don't worry about it, let's just get some sleep," he whispered back, and Karin realized he must be extremely familiar with having nightmares after particularly bad wars and rebellions.

"...Alright," Karin told him and allowed the darkness in the room to begin to overwhelm her.

Right as she began to feel her consciousness slip away, she whispered, "I love you."

In return, Karin heard a quiet, "I love you too."

* * *

Karin had thought Matsumoto and Yuzu were franticly trying to prepare _before_ the wedding, but this was something else entirely. Yuzu had vanished into the kitchen and worked magic on the cake; turning it from an average- if large- one into the fanciest cake Karin had ever seen. Yuzu whispered to her that there was an extra surprise in the cake that Karin could not see until it was cut, and that was ignoring all the other treats she had prepared.

Karin had said she did not want every cook in soul society to work on their wedding. She should have realized just having Yuzu was about the same thing.

Matsumoto, meanwhile, was dressing Karin up. Her kimono was pure white with pinkish-red decorations in the shape of sakura blossoms clustered at the bottom. Her white nail polish and braided bun, coupled with the pure white decoration in her hair, made her look like an angel… at least according to Matsumoto.

Personally, Karin thought it just made her look overconfident and unjustly entitled, but she was not the fashion expert. Her one small reassurance was that Toshiro would probably look just as ridiculous.

Karin had decided, mainly because she did not know many little girls, to skip out of having any flower girls present at her wedding. It was more western than Japanese anyways.

Yuzu had created an enormous feast of both western snacks and japanese sushi. By this point Karin was pretty sure their one cook had made enough to feed all of rukongai, so she made her sister stop. Well if worse came to worst they could give the extra food they left untouched to the eleventh division or something. There was no one who could try Yuzu's food and not fall in love with it anyway.

Karin went back to check that all the decorations were set up at the sight (and yes, it occurred to her that she might be feeling nervous, shut up). A quick shunpo- keeping her slightly off the ground so as to not get dirt on her white outfit- allowed her to appear before the lake she and Toshiro had chosen. The one tree Toshiro had covered with pure, white frost still appeared to be exactly the same, and Karin had a feeling that frost would never melt by any natural means.

Around the lake was a long carpet made of white fabric which led to a tall arch. Coating the arch were daisies of a bluish indigo, dark purple and dark red, and the long carpet was covered in the petals of the flowers. Even Karin had to admit it looked nice, but she had trouble believing that was all it meant.

Suddenly, Karin recalled a conversation she had with Toshiro where they had talked about the meanings of flowers.. Karin scowled, trying to remember the symbolism of the daisy…

"Innocence, loyal love and purity," Toshiro said from behind her. Karin looked over as he walked over to her, stopping once they stood side by side. "That's what daisies mean in the language of the flowers."

"Guess that fits with the overall white theme," Karin mumbled, her eyes completely on her fiance, rather than the flowers. She had thought he would look ridiculous in the formal clothing, but his pure white kimono which faded to an icy blue at the bottom suited him perfectly. It made sense, to some degree, that someone who acted confident and formal during their everyday life would look better than her in formal clothing, but it had taken Karin completely by surprise.

And it left her feeling, somehow… inadequate. That was an emotion Karin had not experienced in a long, long time, her general confidence getting her through most otherwise embarrassing situations. Now, however, she felt a familiar nervousness she had not felt around her lover since before the became a couple.

And she hated it. The already-shaky confidence she had towards her own outfit seemed to pale in comparison to the person who stood in front of her. She could handle him being in his shinigami uniform, that was a military costume, and something she was familiar with. This however, was new, different, and something she was not sure she could handle.

* * *

Toshiro had arrived at the sight to take one last look at the place before the ceremony and found Karin already running a last minute check. They talked a bit about the hidden meaning of the decorations, before Toshiro tried to go back to looking at the surrounding area.

As he tried, however, his gaze kept flicking back to Karin. Where he wore a simple design of white and blue, Karin wore a flawless kimono which was decorated with red petals of varying shades scattered at the bottom. Toshiro could see the similarities in their outfits- both started white at the top, but gained more color the lower in the outfit you looked- but somehow Karin wore hers so much better.

Maybe it was what they had done to her hair, or maybe it was how uncharacteristically nervous she seemed, but Toshiro thought she looked perfect. He was not one to care about appearance beyond looking professional, but the restricting nature of the formal outfit was annoying. He missed his shinigami outfit.

Then again, it would have been easier for him to relax next to her if she was just wearing her shinigami uniform. He knew how to deal with that.

It occurred to him that he should really compliment her on her outfit, if the way she kept looking back and forth between their clothes with a worried expression meant what he thought it did. But, even as he tried to form the words to describe what he was experiencing, he found himself awkwardly falling short.

"...I almost can't believe this is already happening," mentally, Toshiro cursed himself for resorting to saying that instead of what he wanted to say. He tried again, "I mean- you… I'm amazed…"

Karin relaxed slightly at the chance for familiar banter and raised an eyebrow, "Maybe try speaking in full sentences if you want to get your point across, aren't you supposed to be an unparalleled politician?"

"Or everyone else is just too lazy to do any of the work so they relegate it to me."  
"Well, that could be true. So what, exactly, were you trying to say?"

Here, again, Toshiro found his words dying in his throat and a flash of annoyance appeared. This was nothing like proposing- where, admittedly, the same thing happened- he would just have to speak.

"I… right, sorry. I wanted to tell you that you look beautiful."

Karin's cheeks reddened and her eyes widened, but there was a genuine smile clear on her face. "Thanks, you look even better than I thought you would. I can barely tell you're wearing the equivalent of a halloween costume."

Toshiro was about to disagree with the 'costume' statement, but he could easily imagine a play using a lower-quality version of a similar outfit and decided to say nothing. He was sure they both felt like they were dressing up for a costume party.

"Well, we've checked this place out, so I think I'm going to go make sure the food has all been set up. Your sister made most of it, right? Or did Matsumoto actually bring more chefs?"

"Yeah, Yuzu made most of it with minor help from the Shiba chefs. I warn you though, we might have had less food if we actually brought every chef in the Seireitei to help us."

"Good to know, I'll keep that in mind," Toshiro told her with a smile and nod before flash stepping to the kitchens. Seeing and talking to Karin left him more confident about the wedding than he had been, but Toshiro knew better than to allow his lieutenant to organize everything (read: anything).

For all that Karin had warned him about the amount of food, Toshiro can admit to having frozen in shock when he entered the kitchen and found enough to feed every shinigami twice.

Alright, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but not much of one.

Yuzu was humming happily, cutting out a single slice of cake so everyone would be able to see inside. Toshiro leaned forward for a better look and immediately realized why.

Somehow Yuzu had dyed the cake with food coloring in a specific order which caused the bottom half to look like fire and the top half to look like snow, with the dark blue color Toshiro and Karin had chosen as the background. While he could only see the top layer, Toshiro was sure each increasingly larger layer of cake under the first was similarly decorated.

Yuzu had gotten much, much better at cooking since he last tried her food. Then again, a decade is more than enough time for a change this large to happen to a human, so it really should not have surprised him.

"Impressive," he told her, but immediately regretted not announcing his presence when Yuzu jumped in surprise. Luckily, she was far enough away to not have ruined any of her creations.

She turned around, and for a moment Toshiro was once again struck by how mature the twenty five year old looked. He had noticed when she first showed up, but it was undeniable now. The elementary school girl he used to see when he visited Karin and the middle school girl he occasionally nodded 'hello' to had become an adult in the time he stopped visiting. Karin looked like a late teenager at best, but this truly drove in how much time had passed.

"Hi Toshiro!" Yuzu sang out, and Toshiro relaxed. All that time passing had done little to change her personality, it seemed. The last truly _living_ Kurosaki set down the knife she had used to cut the cake and ran over to pull him into a hug. "What do you think of the cake I made you two?"

"Like I said, it's very impressive. I honestly cannot thank you enough for your work today."

"You really don't need to be so formal, we're family now!" Yuzu told him, giving him a mix between a stern glare and puppy dog eyes. Toshiro could see how Ichigo was always giving into his sister's every demand.

"I-right. Still, thank you."

Yuzu smiled at him, but her smile turned surprisingly nostalgic and sad the instant before she turned around to add the finishing touches to the cake. If Toshiro had not trained himself to notice these things after Aizen, he would not have noticed Yuzu's expression at all. She was wearing a _very_ strong mask.

"I know…" Toshiro tried, but, as always, his mind could not find appropriate words to express his emotions. He took a deep breath and tried again, "I know we- _I_ didn't really ask you for your approval in our marriage. Of course, a sister, even a twin, isn't usually the one you ask, but we were able to tell Ichigo when we talked to Isshin. So… I'm sorry if you disagree with what is happening, but I promise to… love Karin, I suppose."

Yuzu smiled in a manner tinted with amusement and nodded her head, "I know. And I know why you weren't able to talk to me about all this. It's fine. I was talking to Karin a little while ago, I can tell she loves you. You'll be just fine. Besides, worst comes to worst Ichi-nii and otou-san can come here to deal with it. To those two, it's almost like Karin never died; they spend just as much time with the dead as they do with the living. It's just… different for me."

Toshiro, now understanding the emotions behind the smile he saw, nodded and turned to leave, only to be stop when he heard his soon-to-be- sister- in-law continue.

"Toshiro, after this I'm not sure how many times I'll be able to see Karin again. I might not until I die, in fact. Ichi-nii and otou-san can stay with her, talk to her and be her family, I can't. Will you please take that place for me?"

"Of course," Toshiro replied without hesitation.

Yuzu smiled at him, this time without anything hidden behind it, "You better get ready for your wedding then, it's starting soon."

Toshiro nodded once at her, then turned and flash stepped away.

* * *

Karin was very, _very_ glad she and Toshiro had decided to arrange their wedding the way they did. The tradition of having the actual ceremony only include family and close friends, followed by a banquet which included everyone else, seemed perfect for them. Not that Karin was embarrassed or shy, but she and Toshiro were a bit done with crowds of people by this point.

There was only so much fussing- even by their closest friends- the two of them could take.

Taking the light, silver umbrella in her hands, Karin waited for the ceremony to begin. Briefly, Karin relaxed and remembered the rings she and Toshiro had chosen. Matsumoto had gone out and taken pictures of the best ones for them to choose from, and they had been quite happy with their choice. She turned to Toshiro, who stood next to her, and smiled. He lifted an eyebrow at her as if to ask 'have you done something?' (to which Karin responded with an appropriately offended expression), but smiled back.

"Are you ready?" he whispered to her.

"Do you even need to ask?"

Just as Karin finished speaking, music began to play and Toshiro and Karin began to walk down the carpet, followed by Isshin and Ichigo, then Yuzu and Matsumoto. (2) The soft, traditional asian melody continued to play as they walked before Kyoraku, who smiled at the two of them and began reading their vows.

And yes, technically Kyoraku was not qualified to marry anyone, but no one was going to complain about the legality of a contract when the most powerful man in their world was the one who made it. Besides, no one in soul society was remotely religious as they knew exactly what happened after death and reincarnation, so souls who wanted to marry usually just asked nobles to handle the process if they had enough money.

"...I will love this person," Kyoraku read, "Respect this person, console this person, help this person, until death, so I swear."

"Yes, I promise," Toshiro told him, his voice even and calm as he completed his vow.

Kyoraku turned to Karin, repeating the vow for her. Karin listened to every word, then took a deep breath, ready to say to most important words in her life.

"Yes, I promise."

As soon as she finished speaking, the delayed kido spell on the rings before them glowed and activated, turning their wedding rings into energy which surrounded their ring fingers and settled, forming a perfectly sculpted blue diamond on a silver band decorated with a line of smaller, white diamonds. Even Karin's poorer reiatsu sensing abilities could recognize the power linked to the kido as the same one which had engraved the kido onto her sword hairclip. Well, that made sense considering Matsumoto had been the one to recommend the place for Karin and Toshiro.

Toshiro and Karin looked at their rings in wonder and held them closer to each other, causing them to glow. Pressing his reiatsu in, a healing kido activated over the two of them, only disappearing when Toshiro stopped the supply.

Kyoraku stood with a slightly shocked expression, obviously not having expected such a thing to happen. Karin could see she and Toshiro would not be told to finish the ceremony any time soon, so they, as always, would just have to do everything themselves. Karin moved forward and pulled Toshiro into a kiss, proclaiming them husband and wife.

Orihime began clapping, and soon everyone present had burst into thunderous applause which continued even after Karin and Toshiro had separated.

The two newly-weds looked at each other, sharing a completely genuine smile.

* * *

Toshiro laid down on his shared bed with Karin, who had already made herself comfortable. They banquet had gone a bit later than they expected, and they would have to go through the dangai early tomorrow for their honeymoon in Breckenridge, Colorado. Toshiro could feel Karin move a bit closer to him and he wrapped an arm around her.

"Breckenridge will be fun," Karin whispered to him, the late night and dim light making her eyes droop slightly.

"It will. I just hope there won't be too many children present."

"You don't look that much older than one-"

"We look exactly the same age. And, while sixteen to seventeen is more likely, I'm sure we could both pass for eighteen to nineteen year olds. If I really have to, I can always just use my bankai."

"I feel like you might freeze the whole place if you tried that. Even ski resorts probably won't appreciate that. Besides, I wouldn't worry about it. I've heard the slopes are a bit too steep there for beginners, so there shouldn't be many kids."

Toshiro hummed in reply, feeling his eyes beginning to close.

"Well, I suppose that'll be fun."

"Of course, you'll be with me, won't you?" Toshiro laughed slightly at her comment.

"I love you, Karin."

Karin laughed softly, "I know. I love you too."

* * *

1) Yeah, I don't feel like looking any of this up, and there really wasn't much on it in the manga, so I'll just make it up and hope I don't mess up their characters too much.

2) FYI I've never been to an actual Japanese wedding, so this is mostly stuff I found with a quick web search online. I'm sorry if I get a lot wrong, but I think I got somewhat close.

3) _THIS IS MY THE END_! The story is over, so please review if you've stuck with me and tell me what you thought!


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